“I will bless the Lord at all times.” Psalm 34:1

I had it all planned out as a Valentine’s treat for Barb: a relaxed Sunday followed by supper at a pleasant Middle Eastern restaurant and then a Brahms concert by the local Symphony Orchestra.

However, in mid-afternoon came a miscommunication with someone—actually it was not too serious, as I was able to adjust things to meet another’s expectations—but I was bothered by it, and as time went on my dissatisfaction grew.

So, before going out for the evening, I took some time alone with the Lord, putting down on paper how I was feeling; that was helpful in regaining enough balance for moving positively into our date. And we had a good, enjoyable evening with pleasant memories to tuck away for further savoring in the future. However, there was still a heaviness, a negativeness that clung to my spirit like a cobweb of lead.

The next morning, just as I waking up, it came to me: in the midst of the disappointment I had not given praise. Yes, that was it! I had failed to praise God in and for the miscommunication and the discomfort it brought. Since praise is how we lift the shield of faith to extinguish the fiery darts of Satan, I had left myself without defense and had been hit again by the dart of self-pity: “Poor me, no one understands! I can’t do anything right!”

The next thought was: “How could I have forgotten that? I even wrote about getting up the shield of faith in one of our recent prayer letters and here I am making the same mistake again!”

Well, that was another thing to praise God for. My failure illustrates our dependency on Him—we never learn anything once for all in the spiritual realm and we need the Holy Spirit to give us constant guidance. In fact, my failure to praise was not just a single event, but the result of a downward slide in being unthankful.

As I thought more on the whole incident, there was much positive to be thankful for: I hadn’t blown up at the other person, we did have a nice evening, and this time it only took a few hours for the Holy Spirit to get through to me instead of the several days it had taken the last time!