My heart was heavy as I sat in the early morning quiet – grief was my companion – sorrow surrounded me.

Normally I am eager to get out for my walk around the open fields – where bird song is all there is to hear – causing my soul to sing along too – but this morning I knew that I had to make a choice – I could allow myself to dwell on my sorrow – or – I could decide to rise above it.

So – off I went – and as I walked I was reminded of part of psalm 103 from scripture – where David – .. who wrote this psalm talks to his soul – he says ‘bless the Lord oh my soul’. David went through some hard times in his life – he knew what it was to feel overwhelmed – downhearted – but he made a choice – and went on to bless the Lord for all He was.

As my mind dwelt on this I was reminded of very special song – also written during difficult times by Matt Redman.

He recognises that there are times in our lives when we do find it more difficult to praise God – it’s so much easier when everything is going well – and far harder when we go through difficult times and yet those are the very times when we need to rise above our pain we choose to acknowledge His sovereignty -in all things – and still choose to bless Him.

As I allowed the words of this song to go deep into my soul I found that my spirits lifted – and as the sun literally came out – so I felt the warmth of His Spirit on me – as I chose to bless Him.

I chose to dwell – not on the sorrow or sadness that I felt – but on His goodness – on the many blessings that He pours out – and so as I thought on these things I tuned them back into praise and by the end of the walk I felt strengthened and blessed – ready to face the day with true gladness in my heart and deep thanks to the One Who walks with me every day.

Blessings – Lois