The Sacrifice of Praise — Broken & Hopeful

I don’t often equate the idea of praise with sacrifice. I think more of singing worship music or thanking God when things go the way I wanted them to. I can praise Him often that way. But this isn’t what Hebrews 13 is talking about when it says God doesn’t want you to keep sacrificing lambs (as in the old sacrificial system) but rather to offer sacrifices of praise. 

We offer a sacrifice of praise when we thank God for what He is doing even when we don’t get the answer we want, or when we don’t yet see the ending of the difficult circumstance. We praise Him because we know He is steadfast and will never abandon us in the middle. It is a sacrifice to praise God when we don’t yet have a reason to do so, but we are borrowing hope from what we cannot see to stand in thankfulness now.

I think it’s sometimes helpful to see it as a sacrifice, rather than just something that is easy or a natural outcome of the situation in which we find ourselves. I don’t want to give thanks or remember God’s goodness when I’m focused on a situation that is difficult. I want to complain, and wallow in my misery. But as I offer a sacrifice of praise, proclaiming what Jesus has done for us and who He continues to be in us, I am changing something in me. I am no longer focused on the situation, but on God who holds the situation.

When the focus shifts, I am not in denial over how bad the circumstances are, or how deep the suffering is, but I am choosing to focus instead on my gratitude for a loving God who is going to carry me through. I may not know how, but He is faithful! 

What can I praise Him for in the middle of a difficult place? I start with Jesus’ sacrifice for me. He suffered incredible torture and died to spare me from the guilt and shame I could carry. He takes every bit of it and washes it away, allowing me to stand pure and clean before Him. He transferred me from darkness to light, so I have Life within me and can access all the power of God as He lives through me. I can talk to Him anytime and have a peace within my spirit that no one or no circumstance can touch or take. That doesn’t mean I’m happy all the time, but it means I have access to peace all the time. I know that God doesn’t lie, that He is faithful, and that He is always bringing life and beauty from the darkest places. Nothing is too much for Him. 

These are some ideas for getting our sacrifices of praise going. If you believe you have nothing to thank God for, you are not looking hard enough, or you want to stay miserable. Yes, I know that sounds harsh. But this is a word from a woman who has stayed in her own pity party for months and years in the past, and it didn’t do one thing for me! Sitting in misery only hurts us. It doesn’t solve the problem, and it doesn’t help the circumstance. 

I am not saying for one second that there won’t be emotion. There will, and it will be gut-wrenching at times. But emotion doesn’t dictate truth. Feel the emotion, and then move into the truth. The truth is that we can offer a sacrifice of praise to Jesus in any situation, no matter how hopeless it might seem because we are empowered by Him to do so. We must just choose to move to praise, and allow His strength to be enough for it. 

So we no longer offer up a steady stream of blood sacrifices, but through Jesus, we will offer up to God a steady stream of praise sacrifices—these are “the lambs” we offer from our lips that celebrate his name! Hebrews 13:15