Artwork credit: Source

You’ve heard it before. ““I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” – Luke 19:40. And it’s true. We have to be cognizant of the fact that praising God is not for His benefit but ours.

I remember a story about a farmer who has put all his savings for the harvest that he was expecting. I can’t remember if it was a corn field or whatever but that is not important. All I remember is that he has put all his effort into the field and is expecting a great harvest. He recently became a Christian and learned about praising God and how it benefits US by praising Him.

His crops got infested with worms. He has done everything to get rid of the worms to save his crop but to no avail. He heard about how God blesses you when you praise Him so he said, “I’m not about to lose my crops to these worms. God said that if I praise Him, He will bless me.” In one way or another, he challenged God. He wanted to find out what God can do for him.

One sunny afternoon, he brought a little stool with him and he went into the middle of the field. He placed the stool down, stepped on it and at the top of his lungs he cried out, “Praise the Lord!! Praise be His Holy Name!! Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God!!”. He repeated these words several times when he noticed that the sky grew dark all of a sudden. In his mind he thought, “I thought praising works! Now I am about to get soaked with this storm and I have nothing to show for it.”

He took the stool and started running back to the house. He looked back to check and he noticed something weird. The sky grew dim not because of a storm but rather thousands and thousands of black birds that descended on his farm. The birds ate the worms that were destroying his crop and didn’t leave the field until the very last single worm was gone.

I heard that this was a true story that happened in a small town in the Philippines. I couldn’t verify it but regardless, it is still a very good story.

Sometimes, when all is said and done, we need to lift our praises to Him. Whether we’re going through something that is weighing us down or maybe when we’re simply happy that everything is going well. Praise Him. He has abundant blessings that He would like us to have only if we praise Him.

It’s Monday today and I am stressed out at work. Very much so that I am getting very little sleep every night. I know what I’ll be doing before I go to bed tonight and when I wake up first thing tomorrow. I’m going to praise Him. Sometimes, what seems to be dark clouds hovering over us could be the very thing that will save us…. let the birds come and eat every worm of worry within us. God bless you!