As we learn to praise the Lord for everything, what should we expect?

Most of us expect quick results. If there are no quick benefits, our short attention spans will sometimes cause us to move on to something else.  Therefore, many people do not learn how the power of praise can bring undeniably miraculous results. I have seen many occasions when praising God brought immediate results. But I have also learned that God wants us to expect His will to be done rather than our own will.

You and I face an uncertain future. Personal and family tragedies may be only seconds away. In many respects, our futures are beyond our control. The potential for disease, accidents, and financial calamities surrounds us.

Our surrounding hardships aren’t very different from those faced by the people to whom Paul wrote. He asked them to decide whether tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, or sword could separate them from God’s love. Then he said, No, in all these things we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:35 & 37).

While our future is unknown to us, the results can be known. Paul said we could know that God would work everything for our good. Once we become rooted in that principle, beautiful changes happen in us. Fear of the unknown begins to fade. Losing inner fear is one of the greatest miracles we can experience. We are no longer controlled by the circumstances of this world. Instead, this world is controlled by our faith.

Does our faith work? I’ve watched people face death who were filled with faith, and others face death who were controlled by this world. What a difference! Both persons may have pain, but pain without fear is far different from pain drenched in fear. It is so different that it isn’t even comparable.

Don’t wait until you face severe calamities before you fill your mind and heart with faith in God’s loving, perfect care.  I exhort you to study God’s will for you. Be prepared for whatever “tests” may lie ahead. He promises to be with us always, so let’s learn to trust Him where we are, in whatever circumstance.

You may like where you are now – but still worry about your future. Or you may struggle with your present conditions and want to be somewhere else. Whatever your attitude, your mission is still the same: Believe that God is working in your situation for your good (see Romans 8:28). Fail in this task and you face a fearful future. There is no other way to prepare for the unknown events that lie ahead.

Those who watched Jesus die undoubtedly thought His death was a worthless tragedy that accomplished nothing. Now we know that His death accomplished everything.

Believe that today is one small part of God’s eternal plan for you. If today is difficult, harsh or painful, remember Jesus’s day on the cross. He was fulfilling His part in order that you and I might have eternal life. (Reprint from November 1994)