“I raise a hallelujah, in the presence of my enemies,
I raise a hallelujah, louder than the unbelief,
I raise a hallelujah, my weapon is a melody,
I raise a hallelujah, heaven comes to fight for me.
I’m gonna sing, in the middle of the storm,
Louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar,
Up from the ashes, hope will arise,
Death is defeated, the King is alive!”
~Bethel Music
I screamed today. Out loud, at no one in particular. The culmination of a mind-numbing, frustrating, demoralizing day refereeing my two daughters— behaving today more like savage cage fighting animals than the cuties they may appear to be on social media!
I needed an outlet— and I screamed. I hated my extreme reaction immediately. This is not the mom I aspire to be. Overcome by fits of temper, unable to keep my anger and frustrations from boiling over and my emotions in check. On day three of the school holidays no less. 🙈 I should have behaved so differently— and raised a hallelujah Instead of a scream.
I didn’t feel like it at the time, but then we seldom do in the midst of our day to day battles. And yet that is exactly what we’ve been called to do, whether our circumstances reflect it or otherwise.
“I will praise the Lord no matter what happens” (Psalm 34:1).
No matter what? Yes— because He is bigger than our what.
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices and with my song I will praise Him” (Psalm 28:7).
There is always a reason to praise. To show our gratitude, to declare His glory, to raise our warrior cry, to plead for a miracle. Because of who He is, we can always find reason to sing. Paul and Silas certainly thought so, as they sang their songs of praise from the confines of their cell. And they were rewarded— with an earthquake, and their freedom.
And so with everything we have within us we have a choice. To scream a desperate, angry scream to no one in particular. Or to raise a hallelujah— to the God who hears us, loves us, and acts.