“Praise is the beauty of a Christian. What wings are to a bird, what fruit is to the tree, what the rose is to the thorn, praise is to the child of God.” Spurgeon

When do you praise the Lord, before or after He’s changed your life? Yes.

Yes? Praise is not just about when victories come. It’s also about praising Him in the midst of the struggles that lead to those victories.

Last week was particularly hellacious for me, literally. The attacks were almost comical when I stopped to think about them. I had a project that needed to be done by a certain date, which meant I needed to access a certain program. I couldn’t access it on my laptop but I could with a mobile device even though I used the same login and password! Seriously?!

It was stressing me out. Yet, His word says to praise Him in order to get my focus straight. He will bring victory in the present just as He had in the past. Thus, praising not only takes place after a victory comes, but in the midst of the struggle leading to the victory as well.

The Father is God. Period. The Father’s plans always come about. Period. He is the same today as He was yesterday. Period.

Therefore, I stressed out because my focused was messed up. I was in the midst of the struggle when my wife pointed this out. Ouch! She was right, though.

I needed to praise Him because His plans are always accomplished. And sometimes, His plan is to simply get me to praise Him in the midst of the struggle so I can also praise Him after it comes.

Take a step of faith. Remember what He has done in the past and praise Him for it in the present. It’s the best time to start if you want peace rather than stress.