Each day during the month of March we will be sharing a devotional from a booklet written by Steve Love. Steve is a member of Canton First and a Traumatic Brain Injury survivor. If you would like a complete PDF of this devotional, it can be downloaded here.
Day 12
Psalm 117 (New International Version)
1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples.
2 For great is his love towards us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever.
Praise the LORD.
Praise the Lord, the palmist instructs us to Praise the Lord. Many might wonder how a person with a brain injury can praise the Lord because of our circumstance. Our praising God doses do not depend on the circumstance of life. Our ability to praise the Lord is based on who God is to us. We can praise Him when we have money in the bank, and we can praise Him when we are flat broke. We can praise the Lord no matter what our state of heath might be. My praising God is based on mine relationship with Him.
I praise God because I am alive. I am still living that is a big reason to praise Him. 9-11-2004, I came very close to having that being my last day in this world. The time I have with my family and friends is another reason to praise God. My life’s values have change. The items I once treasure and saw important to have a meaningful life do not exist for me. What is the treasure I hold to have value and meaning? It is my relationship with God, my family, and my friends. It is for those relationships that I still process bring out my praising God.
Today is a great day to take inventory of the items in our lives which should cause us to issue praises to God. The palmist give us his reason to praise the Lord, “For great is his love towards us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever.” God’s love for us is great. His loves for us impact us everyday as we live. A friend of mine John Simpson, who has been battle cancer for years and within the last year was discovered that he now has a brain tumor. John’s outlook about his cancer is an inspiration for every one of us. John gives praise to God because of the love and the faithfulness God shows to him every day. John tells people that he is in a win win situation. If God heals him and allow him more time that great for, he has more time to share with his family, friends, and more time to share with other about the love and faithfulness of God. If I die, John explains he wins, for he will be living with his God and enjoying heaven.
As Christians who have a brain injury, we can praise God. We experience His love and faithfulness everyday of our lives. The sad fact is to many do not see how God is showing us His love and faithfulness. All they see is their circumstance. If we just force on our circumstance, we will become bitter, sad and lonely for no would want to be around us. Look beyond your circumstance and see God, see His love for you, and see His faithfulness. It is only when we look beyond our circumstances and forces on God and our love ones that we can and do Praise the Lord.
Pray, praise, and thank God for His love and His faithfulness.
Pray, praise, and thank God for our family and friends who relationships with us help to bring meaning and love within our lives.
Pray and ask God to help us to be an inspiration to other around us all who we have contact with.