I hosted our tenth Women of Worth Conference a few weeks ago, which our First Lady founded. This forum is to help women to go a little further through life’s ups and downs and challenges. As several Women of Excellence spoke on how to overcome our challenges of today, we learned of the many challenges women face in this season of life and seasons past. Accordingly, my challenge may differ from yours, but a challenge under any name can be hurtful and sometimes devasting, to say the least, to the challenged. But, how we respond is the key. Do your challenges lead you to a “Pity or Praise Party?”

Consequently, pitying ourselves is easy. We can wallow in our heartaches and heartbreaks. Some cry and fall apart. Do any of these actions help us to go through our challenges? Not really, but they can be a temporary comfort. However, that is not where we want to live in life. At some point, we have to drop the sadness, let go of our pain, disappointments, frustrations, and heartaches. Therefore, knowing we are children of the King, we have to rise above our challenges and praise God in advance for our emotional healing. Faith pulls us out of desperation and despair. However, what will you choose? A Pity or Praise Party?”

Hence, I choose to praise God in advance, knowing He will bring me through every challenge set before me. Praising God when we are hurting can be a challenge because the pains of life can be severe at times, even debilitating, but I declare and decree that if you can have praise in your heart, God will heal and deliver. Additionally, resorting to pity depletes us of the joys of life. It is where Satan desires us to be, but the devil is a liar, my sisters! Pity or Praise Party? Choose praise. That is the best choice. Let the praises of God abound in your heart no matter what comes your way. Jesus will bottle up every tear. He will give joy amid your sorrow and pain.

As I close, my dear sisters learn to praise God every day, so when the trials of life and storms are raging, you have something to hold onto each day. Primarily, there is power in the praises of God. The devil can’t stand praising God. He can’t dwell where praises of God live. You can push the devil out of your way when praises take the place of pitying yourself. When the praises go up, the blessings of God come down. I will rejoice in the glory of our awesome God. I choose praise over pity. What about you? O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. Isaiah 25:1. I’ll be back next week with a new post, “Stop the Thief!”

Be encouraged, and God bless!

Sister Jackie