Inscribe the Word . . . June Scripture Writing Plan.
I was honored to share part of my testimony about how God brought me through a paralyzing car accident. I had broken every major bone on my right side. My scalp was sewn back together, my right hip was dislocated, and my right ankle was pinned back together.
After an eight hour surgery, and what would turn out to be three months bedridden in the hospital, I was mad. I was mad at God. I looked at the same beige walls every day. No windows. Just beige. No color. Just beige.
I didn’t pray. I cried and yelled at God every night.
“YOU LEFT ME!”
I have served You. I have loved You. I never rebelled. I didn’t do 'the college thing'. I’ve never smoked or drank. I have given You everything I have. I have worshipped You. Written songs to You. Prayed, fasted, Bible-Studied to You. I’ve taught Sunday school and I’ve been to Youth Group, and You have abandoned me in my darkest hour. Do you see my pain? WHERE ARE YOU?”
Have you been there? Have you ever been angry at God?
Like Jacob, I wrestled with God and He dislocated my hip. (Genesis 32:24-32) Like Jacob, to this day, I still walk with a limp - a constant reminder of my time wrestling with God. And like Jacob, God would begin to bless me in ways I could never imagine.
To make matters worse, when my dad would come to visit me he would always say, “Keep singing, Er. You have to keep singing.”
“SING? Are you kidding me? Sing? Like this? I can hardly breath without pain and you want me to sing to a God who has left me? I love you dad, but you have got to be out of your mind. I won’t ever sing to Him again.”
I vowed never to sing to The Lord again. I was a worship leader in my church. I had been on the praise team since I was thirteen. I wrote my first worship song at twelve and at this point, fifty other songs were penned by my hand to The Chief Musician and I vowed never to sing to Him again.
Late one night I was lying in my hospital bed. The pain was shooting down my right leg and I wasn’t due for pain pills for another hour. I laid there alone and sobbing. Not praying. Definitely not singing. Just sobbing.
Out of no where, I heard a still small voice . . . (1 Kings 19:11-12) . . . “Erika, I will keep your song until you can sing it again.”
. . . .and suddenly . . . Peace.
THE POWER IN PRAISE
My dear friends, in those dark hours, God kept my song until I could sing it again. There is a power in praise that can break every chain. There is a power in praise that can release the heaviest burdens. There is a power in praise that connects with the Creator.
Let me tell you, friends, it was incredibly difficult in those bedridden days to offer a sacrifice of praise. I felt that God had left me. I felt broken. I was in such tremendous pain. I lost all hope. I did not want to praise the Lord.
But when I took my eyes off the pain, and put it on the praise, God began to move.
I began to praise Him for the lessons this accident would teach me. I began to praise Him when the pain was blinding. I began to praise Him for the doctors and nurses who took care of me. I began to sing, and He began to move.
In praise, I took my eyes off me and put my eyes on HIM.
There is power when we acknowledge Him as Lord and King. There is power when we give thanks to Him for who He is. There is power when we praise Him for what He has done.
Inscribe the Word . . . The Power of Praise.
This month, we are Inscribing THE POWER OF PRAISE. There are hundreds of Scriptures throughout the Psalms having to do with Praise. We will spend the first half of the month studying some of the verses in Psalms. The second half of the month, we will be looking throughout the Word studying how the men and women of the Bible PRAISE.
I hope that it will refocus you on the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. All of our praise must be centered on Him. He descended from him whose name was praise for He is our praise. - Matthew Henry.
Click HERE to download your Inscribe the Word plan.
CLICK HERE to download your KIDS Power of Praise Plan.
