I Just Wanna Praise You!

I’ve had that line from the Mary Mary song “Shackles (Praise Him)” running through my head for the last hour, and here’s why…

So before I left for lunch today, I emailed my co-workers letting them know that I would be traveling to Russia next week, and who they should contact for help while I’m out of the office. When I returned, I had an email from an out-of-state coworker whom I’ve only spoken with a handful of times and have never met face to face. She has always been very pleasant to talk to, but with her being so far away, we’ve never really had the chance to talk on a personal level.

She asked why I was going to Russia, and mentioned that she had been to a former Russian republic a few months before. I shared that I was going on a missions trip with a group from my church, and that it would be my first time in Russia. She immediately replied back that she is a believer, and that she would be praying that God would use me and teach me in a mighty way!! We exchanged a few more emails, and she shared that God had brought her through some difficult times, but that He has been so faithful and good to her, and she was excited to learn that she has a sister in Christ in Houston!

I am so pumped up and excited thinking about her words even as I just typed them, because this is a HUGE answer to prayer. For so long, the biggest struggles I’ve had during my Christian walk have been because of work circumstances, mostly because I tended to become of the work world and not simply in it. In the seven years I’ve been working since college, I have only had two coworkers who were believers and professed their faith openly. All the other times, I didn’t know any other believers, so some of my friends were people who had no relationship with God. But, instead of living by example and sharing my faith with them, I would speak and act in ways I shouldn't have instead of holding fast to what I knew to be true. It was always easier to have work friends and be nonchalant about my faith rather than be open and risk alienation.

I praise God for opening my eyes and showing me that I spent far too much time worrying and obsessing over what others thought of me, and being fearful of being judged by them. Instead, He reveals to me during my prayers, quiet times, and through various life circumstances that He is the one to be feared, because He is the ultimate judge, but that He is merciful and so very gracious to His children.