When Your Hallelujah Feels Hollow.
It was day four of my husband traveling and I felt exhausted. It was summer break and not only was I in autism burnout but I was also trying to keep our son entertained inside. It was the middle of a heat wave and playing outside was not an option for me. I felt tired, discouraged, and frustrated. I was trying to get some writing done, keep our house presentable, and entertain our five year old. I’ll be honest, I didn’t feel like praising God. Regardless of how I felt, I listened to some worship music and starting to talk to God. I felt like I was going through the motions but I thanked God for being close to and with me. I asked God to give me endurance, rest and peace and to help me feel his joy.
One of the things that I love about God, is that he doesn’t require us to feel like praising him. God knows that life can be tough sometimes. He doesn’t require us to be happy all of the time. Psalms 103:1 says “Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.” We were created to praise God. Why?
Praise Switches Our Focus - When we praise God, we are not necessarily praising him for our situation. We aren’t thanking God for what’s going on around us. Praise helps us switch our focus from our situation to God. Focusing on our situation can cause us a lot of stress, anxiety and despair. When we take a break from focusing on our situations to focusing on God, we are taking a break to focus on the one, true thing that is good and constant in our lives, and that’s God.
God is Our source - Matthew 6:11 CSB says “Give us today our daily bread.” Bread sustains us. God is our sustenance. God is the source for what we need. God sustains us for each day. When we go to God with Praise, we are praising the only one who is our true source of what we need. God is our source of peace in chaotic seasons. God is our source of joy in times of sorrow. He’s a rest during restless times. God is our only true source of provision for what we need.
Praise Shifts the Atmosphere - Have you ever put on one of your favorite upbeat songs and felt the atmosphere of where you are shift? Praise is like that upbeat song that just shifts the atmosphere of wherever you are. Praise shifts the spirit realm and the earthly realm too. Praising God is a way of declaring victory over situations even if you don’t yet see the victory.
I wish I could tell you that, that day got easier. In the natural, it didn’t. But something changed in me. I was still in autism burnout, but I felt hopeful. I still felt exhausted but I felt God’s peace. However this article finds you, I pray you remember that you can lift a hallelujah even when you feel hollow.
