The nighttime praise

I remember you while lying on my bed. I think about you in the middle of the night. That is because you are the one who helps me. It makes me happy to be under your protection! I stay close to you, and you hold me with your powerful arm. (Psalm 63:6-8)

There are many ways to remember God, aren't there? We can do something quit formal such as journaling his accomplishments in our lives, or raising our hands in corporate worship. In the stillness of the night hours there are times when his goodness and grace will just flood in. In those moments, the praise is a little less like raising hands and voices in corporate worship, but more of a stillness and peace that just overwhelms you. Did you realize settling into that peace is actually one way we bring praise to him?

God's work in our lives is evident in big ways, such as when he helps us avoid a car wreck, but he is also working when we may not even see it. In the stillness of the night hours, it is often the time when God can still our minds long enough to help us "feel" his presence. While God never tells us tomlean into what we feel, it is never wrong to lean into that feeling of being protected and loved by him. The middle of the night moments may not be every night, but they are awesome when we realize God is speaking to us and his presence in surrounding us.

The condition to realizing these moments is us staying close to him. It is hard to be embraced when we are always pulling away, doing our own thing, being out of touch with him by infrequent contact. We are held by drawing closer and closer. If our closeness to God has not been what it could be, chances are the stillness of night gives us moments to recall our first love and return to it! Even in the conviction of the nighttime hours with him we see his protection and feel his intense desire for us to draw near. Just saying...