Recorded MP3 audio meditations: downloads and audio streams, written reflections and contemplative resources by Dorinda Miller

Written Reflections

Facing the Challenge

The ‘Facing the Challenge’ series is a reflection on 2 Chronicles 20:1-30, under the headings of priority, prayer, prophecy, praise and plunder. How can considering this passage equip us for the challenges that life presents?

Facing the Challenge - Praise

Praise – 2 Chronicles 20: 18,19,22,26,28

There is a strong theme of praise and worship in this passage which shows how God’s powerful intervention can be released, as the focus moves from the situation facing them, to God.  This is clearly demonstrated again in the New Testament, in Acts 16, where Paul and Silas find themselves in prison having been whipped and beaten.  Instead of focusing on their circumstances and injuries, they are praising God and as they do so, there is an earthquake which shakes the prison and frees them from their chains.  As a result the jailer and his entire household become believers.

Across denominations there are wide variations in the way people praise and worship God.  Spend a few minutes reflecting on the ways in which you have experienced praise and worship, within your own journey of faith.  Think about what you enjoy about praise and worship.  What do you find difficult?  How does God meet you personally as you praise and worship him?  Finally spend some time in praise and worship.

One Friday my daughter and I were returning home (the story starts at the beginning of this series), late afternoon on a rickshaw, when she suddenly spontaneously began to sing the chorus from a song we had sung in church earlier in the day.  The words were ‘And to God be the glory, and to God be the glory, for this is the gospel of Christ.’ I joined in with her, and much to the astonishment and amusement of the rickshaw driver, we sang all the way home!  However, by the time we arrived home, this chorus had taken root within me and I continued to sing it silently all evening and much of the night!  We discovered some weeks later that the order had been overturned and signed on the Saturday morning.  Many months later on a trip home to the UK, we heard from a close friend who had been supporting us in prayer that she had stopped praying about the deportation order, on the Friday evening, when she had felt God say ‘It is done.’  Although the order was overturned, it then took a further couple of months to obtain the security clearance, work permit and visas.  These finally arrived at 5pm one Sunday, just in time for us to go to the evening service at church, to share the news and to praise and thank God for his provision and for making a way, where there seemed to be no way.

Written by Dorinda Miller; © D Miller 2015. For full credits please see the site credits page

Next Reflection:

Plunder