Two options

UV 385/10,000 Two options James 5 v 13 Jas 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. We have two options before us all the time. In good times, praise and thank God. In bad times, pray. Through all time, God remains good and He will reveal His goodness to us in different ways. The reality is that people tend to ignore God when everything is going good for them. They blame God when the tide turns against them. I recently heard a cousin’s wife calling God a sadist for taking away her husband at the age of 68. But for all these years, when they were financially well off, enjoyed each other’s company and travelled the world, she did not think it fit to offer praise to God. We can train our thoughts to always be in this sequence: praise and pray, praise and pray. When we are afflicted either with sickness or financial crisis or persecution or opposition, the Lord is closest to us. He is present with us in that situation. His grace is sufficient for our healing, our deliverance, our provision, our protection and our victory. In such moments, we seek the Lord more intensely. Mature believers learn to praise God even for the temporary troubles and tribulations that build in them greater faith, character and patience. In times when the going is good and it is fair weather, we must not forget the Lord. Instead, every good fortune, every blessing of health, every blessing of life, every breakthrough,every relationship, every help, every gift and talent, every opportunity, every source of joy, happiness and pleasure in our lives must turn into a psalm of praise unto the Lord. A time must come when we can alternately pray and praise even as we alternate between breathing in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide. Prateep V Philip