ACE #417: With My Last Breath...

Last week, my family and I visited a local church.  It was a familiar church; many of our friends and family attend there.  We always feel welcome there.

Whenever I am in church, I always look around the room to observe my surroundings.  It is a habit that I developed early as a church musician because I have always had my back to the congregation.  I would miss who was in service.  Then I had the nerve to major in journalism, which developed my observation skills that much greater.  

After we got settled in our seats, I looked around to see what activity was going on in the sanctuary.  Something in the spiritual realm drew me to two people in the room.  One was a young man who I felt the Lord telling me that He had a great work for him.  The other was a young man confined to a wheelchair, a quadriplegic. 

The choir began to sing a song. The lyrics of the song were about looking back over your life and realizing how far God has brought you. The Holy Spirit was high in the place.  I heard a noise behind me.  When I turned around and looked at the young man, he was praising God with so much strength that the usher was fanning him and his family member was holding him so that he would not fall out of the wheel chair.  Imagine, a young man with very little activity in his limbs giving God that much praise!  I know God was glorified, magnified and pleased by the young man's praise.  I know it made me smile.

At the end of the service, I stopped one of my family members and told her, "If that young man can praise God like that...whew, chile.  I was ready to run over to him and tell him to pick up his mat and walk!"  Then we concluded our conversation agreeing that many well able bodied people can't even open their mouths to give God some praise. I often wonder why people attend church if all they ever aspire to do is to sit in the pew and just warm it with a frown on their faces...at least smile in the house of the Lord.

All I am really saying today is that I am certain that even with my last breath...I will give God praise no matter the condition of my body, spirit, or mind.  I don't want any rocks to cry out for me! 

Be mindful that "Praise is expression," Prophet Brian Carn

"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out" (Luke 19:40)