When I was a child one of the most favorite things I enjoyed playing with, was my magnifying glass. I would go out into the yard and find a bug and look at it through the glass. From a distance it looked so small and puny, but under the magnifying glass it became awesome! The same would happen with flowers that I would look at. They were very nice from a distance, but when I magnified them through my glass, I could see their WONDERFUL beauty! Every color exactly right, the softness of each peddle. I began to realize the awesomeness of God, as He took time to create each lovely flower and every little insect with great care, so that each one had it's own identity. Taking into consideration every little detail, details that are often overlooked by, us humans.
I went to a church meeting a few months ago with some very dear friends and I heard a message that took my thoughts back to my childhood days and to my fun times with my magnifying glass. The message was on, magnifying the Lord. The message talked about when you are having troubled times, magnify the Lord. Suddenly I could see in my mind the word Lord like this:
I thought about how when I looked through my magnifying glass all I could see was the object that I was focusing on. Then I thought, when we go through hard times we need to focus on the Lord. We need to MAGNIFY HIM above our troubles and see only His helping hand in every situation.
In Psalms chapter 34 and verse 4 it says, "I sought the LORD, and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears." We need to seek the Lord in our times of troubles and look to Him for our help. Psalms 69:30 says," I will praise the name of God with a song, and will MAGNIFY Him with thanksgiving." When we praise and thank God for being their for us in our times of need and our times of gladness,.... when we like Joseph in the Bible, thank God for every situation we find our selves in, we can have peace of mind that God will come through for us.
When Paul and Silas were thrown into prison they didn't sit there and gripe and say WHY ME....why did we get put into prison...were people of God... how could God let this happen to us!!!!! No... instead they sang the praises of God. They MAGNIFIED the LORD in their situation and the Bible says that the earth shook and their shackles opened up and the doors of the prison opened up for them. There is POWER in magnifying the Lord in our lives Psalms 40 and verse 16 says, "Let all those that seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let such as love thy salvation say continually, THE LORD BE MAGNIFIED!
So the next time you find yourself in a hard place in your life, be a Paul and Silas.... sing praises and MAGNIFY the Lord and see His mighty hand come to help you. And as Psalms 35 and verse 28 says," My tongue shall speak of YOUR righteousness and of YOUR praise all the day long!"
MAGNIFY THE LORD!
By Brenda Beaty