When You Need A Little Help Praising

I’m deep in the throes of my last semester of my Master’s program, which means my stress level is a little higher than normal right now. My schedule has been a little fuller than I like this Fall. I’m also in the middle of some transitions in this season that can make things feel a little unsteady.

Normally, I’m a pretty tough cookie. My faith is strong and unshakable. In fact, I think I’m actually a little better under pressure. Normally.

But mid-week last week, I was hit with a stomach virus. And apparently that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

By Friday, I was feeling pretty worn down and overwhelmed. In my heart, I knew that the best way to shift my perspective would be to turn my focus off of myself and on to Jesus through praise.

In all honesty, though, I was having a hard time doing that. I will spare you the details, but this stomach virus was relentless. My head was pounding and I felt physically depleted. Unfortunately, when I feel physically unwell, I tend to be more vulnerable to feeling emotionally low.

I was in a little bit of a funk. My faith was still unshakable but the rest of me was feeling pretty shaken. Ever been there?

Now, obviously, I’m not sharing any of this for sympathy. And although I appreciate your well wishes and prayers, I’m not sharing this to garner those, either. (I’m actually feeling a million times better today and I used the time in bed to get some school work done, so there was a blessing in that.)

This what I want you to takeaway after reading all that… sometimes you need a little help lpraising.

Sometimes we get in a funk and it’s hard to just pick ourselves up by the boot straps and move through it. It’s hard to lift our eyes off our present situation. And the longer and deeper and more serious the funk is, the harder it is to get out off.

That’s ok. That’s just our humanity. That’s why God gives us a whole body of believers to do life with.

Ephesians 4:29 says this, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

I have a dear soul friend that I talk to almost every day. After a couple of days where I’d gone dark, she reached out to check in on me. Because she’s a safe and trusted friend, I knew I could tell her that I was feeling a little low. I knew she wouldn’t judge or offer empty platitudes, but would be a partner in helping to lift my head and fix my gaze back on Jesus instead of on my own circumstances.

She has spent the last few days sending me encouraging texts, sending uplifting scripture, praying for me and over me, and reminding me of God’s faithfulness and strength even when I feel a little weak.

When I felt too distracted by my own burdens (which I know are very minimal in the grand scheme of things) she helped me to refocus.

Sweet friend, we need other people in this faith journey.
And we need to be there for other people in theirs.

We are meant to do this together, as a family, as people, as a body, as a Church, and as a kingdom people. Over and over in scripture God tells us to love one another. That means loving other people. But that also means opening ourselves up and sharing our struggles so that other people can love us.

And as we all serve one another and receive from one another in love, God gets all the praise and all the glory.

Prayer

God, thank you for community. Thank you for the people you've put in our lives to be a help to us. Give us the ability to be brave and vulnerable enough to reach out when we need help. Give us eyes to see those whom we can help. Thank you for giving us a family of people who love you and love us. Amen.

Scripture for Meditation

Ephesians 4:29 NIV
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Journal Reflection

Who are the people in your life who can be safe and trusted soul friends? How can you seek out those kinds of relationships? Who is already in your life that you might begin to Forster that kind of friendship with?
Who can you be that kind of a friend to?

Practice

Send an encouraging note to a friend this week.