What do I do when I am stressed?

"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." -Albert Einstein

The house is quiet; Savanna is sleeping, and Bill is in his room, as usual. Josh is at class, which makes me quite sad and lonely. There is a lot going on for me right now, but most of it I can't really put into writing, not for a lack of ability or lack of desire. On the contrary, I would love to write out what is on my heart and mind right now, but on the most stressful of all the topics, I won't. Just trust that it is for the best. Somehow it feels better just acknowledging that I am stressed out about these anonymous topics, and for that I am grateful.

What do I do when I am stressed? I play the piano! But I can't right now, because we don't have one. Go ahead and use your imagination to picture me pouting. So since I don't have a piano at which to play my heart, I will just talk about what I would play on the piano: praise and worship! This has been roaming through my heart anyway, so here it goes:

WHAT IS PRAISE?


Declaration of faith

"Why are you cast down, O my soul,and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,my salvation"


Shout of victory

"My lips will shout for joy,when I sing praises to you;my soul also, which you have redeemed" Psalm 71:23


An expression of approval

"I will tell of your name to my brothers;in the midst of the congregation I will praise you." Psalm 22:22


An offering of thanks
"I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High." Psalm 7:17


A reflection of God's power
"O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love" Psalm 59:17

WHAT PRAISE IS NOT


Praise is most certainly not a temper tantrum or a pity party. We have all thrown temper tantrums, even as adults. Or maybe it's just me - be honest now - who has gotten so upset that I don't know what to do with myself, resorting to throwing my hands around at imaginary walls that I have just punched through in my mind, or jumping up and down, or yelling at the top of my lungs. And again, be honest - we have all thrown ourselves pity parties. You know, we may not have sent out invitations in the mail, but we've certainly shuffled through our contacts list looking for a sympathetic ear to unload on, someone who will say, you poor thing! Not someone who will fix it, just someone to listen and feel bad for us - we wouldn't want our pity party to come to a premature end now would we. So when we come into the presence of God, it is not time to throw a "spiritual temper tantrum" or pity party


Praise is not my time to shine. Guess what? Are you ready for this - praise is not about YOU. Go ahead, cry a little. Praise is about GOD. It's about lifting His mighty name on high - raising the banner of praise - crying out in unity with the body of Christ in celebration. Have you ever spent time with a self-centered person? Uhm, YES! Completely annoying? Uhm, YES! Counterproductive? Uhm, YES! True Praise is not about making yourself a spectacle just for spectacle's sake. Sometimes praise will look silly [INSERT "Make it Plain" HERE]. David looked completely foolish parading through the streets in his tighty whities celebrating the presence of God, but there is a difference between unabandoned worship and "look at me, everybody!"
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Praise is not a chance to bully anyone else into anything. Maybe "bully" is a strong word - but I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed this exact scenerio: A quiet, timid Christian is standing innocently at their seat during the song service; a boistrous, nearly-too-lively Christian is dancing about in the aisle. The boistrous Christian dances their way over to the timid Christian, grabs the hand of the person who was perfectly contented to praise Jesus at their seat and drags them into the aisle. So now we have a boistrous Christian, and an embarrassed, awkward Christian, both in the aisle. Please do NOT do this - not everyone praises the same way. While it would be ideal if we could throw away our limitations in church, going absolutely crazy for Jesus on a regular basis, it is not everyone's desire to do so, nor is it their nature. If God is a gentleman, and gives man the free choice to worship - shouldn't we?

Praise is not a post-it note. It is not time to "remind" God of all His promises - guess what, He never forgets. In fact, that's one of His promises! We should remind ourselves, definitely - and we should celebrate His promises, most definitely - but God does not need a post-it note on his fridge to remember what He has promised to His children.

Maybe we should refocus our attention on God, and on who HE is, rather than ourselves!

"...and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth" John 4:24