Shall we then Withhold our Praise?

"Please don't mess this up, otherwise I'm going to have a really hard time tipping you." There is little more that could make my blood boil more. It was a busy Saturday at the restaurant and I was working a double (roughly 12 hours). After having already worked 40+ hours as a custodian that week, one could understand my fatigue, but I always try to give the best customer service regardless.

This was one of those difficult tables; impossible to please, very needy, and demanding. I did make one mistake, ringing in a kids cheese pizza instead of a kids cheese burger (the buttons are right next to each other on the computer both of which start with the abbreviation "chz"). I realized my mistake as the food came out, but the kitchen produced the burger not even a minute after. So there was certainly no need to place the cards on the bill and say, "Please don't mess this up, I'm gonna have a really hard time tipping you."

If I hadn't stopped myself, I might have responded, "You know, you can keep your $6. Seeing you go is reward enough." But realizing my job is worth more than a little dignity, I forced a smile and replied, "Have a good one!"

This whole experience got me to thinking. It's really easy to tip our server when everything comes out just out as we ordered it, when our food tickles our tongues with delight, and our time with friends fills our heats with joy. Yet, it's really easy to feel like we are entitled to withhold when our server seems too busy to meet all our needs, when the food is marginal, and our burgers come out as pizzas.

And I wonder, how often do we treat God in the same way. When life goes just as we like, we look to God and say "Oh, Lord you are so, good. I feel so blessed! Thank you for this day!" Yet, when life gives us rain, and the checking account gets low, and our family stresses us out, the last thing we want to do is offer praise.

Three consecutive times the Psalmist praised God when life felt heavy. In Psalms 42 and 43 he said, "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."

I need to remember that despite what the world throws at me, God is still good. Just as I may sit at the table a receive marginal service, my server may still be a solid guy or gal doing their best to make a living.
Therefore let us praise God in every circumstance, for it is the World that gives us trial and it is God who, because he is good, preserves us despite what the world may throw at us.