"Praise Him In The Chains"

"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." Acts 16:25

(First let me start by saying that I am not being critical this morning. I am interpreting this subject by the scriptures.)

For several days the song "Shackles" has been on my heart. I have walked around the house listening to it and singing it.  Here are the words:  "Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance. I just wanna praise You. I just wanna praise You. You broke the chains now I can lift my hands and I'm gonna praise You. I'm gonna praise You."

This morning that still small voice spoke to me and said-- you don't wait until the shackles are off and the chains are broken to praise the Lord. The time to be dancing is while the shackles are still on. The time to lift your hands in praise is while you are still in chains. We think praise comes after the chains are broken, after the shackles fall off, after we have a victory, after the answer to pray comes or when we see God intervene in a situation. No, we have it backwards. 

In Acts 16 we see Paul and Silas beaten, thrown into prison and put in stocks (a form of shackles). While they were still in prison they sang and praised God... not after they were set free, not after the chains were broken and the stocks were loosed. Instead, it was after they praised and prayed that the bands were loosed, and the prison doors open.

We should praise the Lord when we see the victory, when He moves on our behalf, when He sets us free, when He breaks chains that bind us and when He removes bondages. But we should also praise Him when the chains are still there-- chains can't stop us from lifting up our hands and praising the Lord. We should also praise Him and dance the dance of freedom when the shackles are still there-- shackles can't stop our dance either. 

So, when are you going to praise Him?  After bondages are broken and you see the victory? Or before, because He is worthy of praise no matter what you are going through?

Have a great day. I'm gonna praise Him whether I have on chains and shackles or not. 

Further reading: Acts 16:19-26; Romans 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; John 16:33