What Do You Get When You are Squeezed?

Psalm 34:1 “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

Do you rejoice when you are squeezed?

That is the kind of person I want to be, but I often fall short of this goal. It is easy to praise God when things are going well, but not as easy when things seem to be falling apart. Yet praise even in the bad times is what God desires from us. He wants us to trust His loving heart and His ability to use even difficult situations to shape and mature us.

Often we find out about ourselves in the trials of life by how we respond. Our response shows what is really in our hearts.

When you squeeze an orange, you expect to see orange juice come out. And when a Christian is squeezed by the difficulties this life brings, the characteristics of Christ should be the result.

The Psalmist was able to bless the Lord continually and boast in the His ever present love and care because during difficult times he had sought God and found Him faithful. God had delivered him from all his fears, saving him out of all his troubles. The hard experiences he faced developed a greater trust in his God and caused an outpouring of praise that was present at all times. His desire was to magnify the Lord and exalt His name for all to see.

Are you going through a troublesome time? Do you feel yourself being crushed by the pressures this life can bring? Seek to know God better through the experience. Bless the Lord at all times . . . and when He allows you to be squeezed, let His praise be continually in your mouth!

Love,

Mama