In All Things, Praise the Lord!

“He will not let you be defeated. He who guards you never sleeps. The Lord will protect you from all dangers; he will guard your life. The Lord will guard you as you come and go, both now and forever.” ~Peter 12: 1-3, 7-8. Many situations occur when we don't feel like praising the Lord But there are other times when we will look at all that has taken place, seeing what the Lord has protected us from, then praises start to rise! Pastor Eric of First Assembly in Fernandina Beach reminds us quite often, “In All things praise the Lord.” When we praise the Lord in every situation, many times He reveals to us, just how much He loves us, and how he has protected us! This past week, I needed to drive 70 miles on 2 interstate highways for an appointment with my eye specialist. The first interstate has 2 sections with road construction that many accidents occur in several times a week. On my trip to and from my appointment, I drove through a “Lane Shift” with narrow lines and concrete barriers on both sides,with very rough pavement. Each time I had to blow the horn because a tractor-trailer would cross over the line and crowd me into the barriers. The trip was an hour and one half each way. After arriving home, I noticed my rear tire was flat. I thanked the Lord it didn't happen during my trip. I found it would hold air, safe enough to drive, for about 20 minutes and drove it to a local garage the next day only to find it had a construction bolt stuck in the tread. It was then I realized the the scripture above, “The Lord will protect you from all dangers.” There was a “Low Tire” light that had been blinking on my dashboard this year. When I had a new set of tires installed, I was told I had 3 bad bad tire sensors. Then I remembered the trip the day before. Even though I checked the tires visually before leaving, as I was driving the light came on and stayed on. I remember telling my wife the last sensor must have gone bad because the light was staying on. The Lord was protecting me while I was driving for over 3 hours! But in reality, the tire would only stay up 20 minutes with full pressure! I began praising the Lord again! During my morning prayers every day I pray the Lord will bless my family and bless their cars and give them safe travel. He has answered this prayer many times for my wife and children when they made it safely home before their car stopped working. Often times the difference between a flat tire and a mangled car, landing us in a hospital bed are just a prayer away! There is power in prayer! We might not always see what the Lord has done, but He is working! In all things, Praise the Lord!