Earlier today on Bellshill Salvation Army Band’s Facebook page I shared the devotions I shared at our band practice last Wednesday evening. I’d like to share those devotions with you tonight.
There are days when praise comes easily to us. Days when the sun feels warm on your face, when prayers are answered quickly, when joy rises without effort, and all feels well in your life. But then there are the other days, the ones where praise feels like lifting a weight you’re not sure you are able to carry.
The bible never tells us that life with God is free from struggles. In fact in the Psalms we read of many who are crying out in their struggles from many places such as caves, battlefields, ill health and lonely places. Yet woven through them is a stubborn, almost defiant thread of praise, not because everything is perfect, but because God is still God, and is still with present.
Sometimes the most powerful worship we offer is the kind that rises in spite of what we feel, or the struggles we’re going through.
In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat faced an impossible battle – His army was outnumbered, his people were terrified, but instead of rallying the troops with strategy, he sent out singers – people whose only weapon was worship, and as they sang, God moved in ways they never could have imagined. Praise didn’t ignore their battle – It led them through it.
That’s the heart of Lauren Daigle’s song “Let It Be a Hallelujah.” The song is a reminder that worship isn’t just what we bring when we’re living the mountaintop life, it’s what we bring when life is a struggle, messy, uncertain, or heavy. It’s choosing to say:
Lord, whatever this day holds—let my response be worship.
It’s not because we’re strong, but because God is faithful. It’s not because we feel brave, but because God is near. It’s not because everything is resolved, but because God is worthy.
Let praise becomes a declaration:
God, You get the final word over my circumstances, my emotions, and my story.
And when we choose to offer that kind of hallelujah, quiet or loud, trembling or confident, it becomes a doorway for God’s peace to enter our hearts and our lives.
The Distinct Dot 