Pinky Promise

In the 70s, the tenets set forth in the book Prison to Praise by a former army chaplain, Merlin R. Carothers, took the Christian world by storm. Its precepts were simple: praise God in every circumstance, for every circumstance.

There were, of course, dissenters who dug their heels in at praising God for or in horrible situations. As John affirms, "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). There is that--but there is also the fact that God is the ruler of our every circumstance (Psalm 31:15).

I am by no means a theologian; there is no way I would even try to convince you about this truth. But I am a Christian who believes that we are called to believe with the simplicity of a child (Matthew 18:1-5). So, as simplistic as it might make me seem in the eyes of others, I choose to believe like a child. I choose to believe God's Word simply, at face value.

That's not to say I haven't struggled with the concept. When death came knocking at my door, taking a loved one away suddenly, I found my pain dragging me to the side of the praise naysayers. How could I praise God in the presence of an untimely death that dared take the life of a young Christian who loved Jesus, walked with Him, lived with Him? How could I praise Him in a situation that dared defy so many promises in God's Word about longevity? Ah ... enter the majesty of the harmonious interweaving of God's Word!

Isaiah tells us that God's Word must be laid "precept upon precept, line upon line ,,, here a little and there a little" (Isaiah 28:13). As much as we would like it to be otherwise, God's promises are not always black and white. All of His precepts must be factored in together, what the Bible says here blended with what the Bible says there. The end result? There will be times when our finite human understanding will be taxed, unable to comprehend how they all come together.

This truth led me to interlace my pain with Revelation 1:18, where Jesus says, "I ... hold the keys of hell and of death." No one, absolutely no one, can die without Jesus's okay. No evil can befall our lives without the Savior's permission. It might not be His perfect will (see Romans 12:2, where Paul seems to imply that there is a good will, an acceptable will, and a perfect will of God), but He will orchestrate good from it, regardless of human error and evil intervention (Romans 8:28). If a loved one dies, no matter the pain, no matter the horrible circumstances, we can rest assured that that particular death had to pass through the filter of Jesus's permission. It was not an accident. It was not the end of every good thing in life. It does not invalidate the truth of His promises. It has a divine purpose, even if on this side of heaven we might never understand it.

So even when faced with the racking pain of death, our lips can mouth praises to God. He is God, regardless of the seeming aberration from promises on which we had set our faith. He is in control. He has a purpose for all things. He will bring good out this horrible, horrible pain. The death--the evil circumstance--is not in vain.

After Grandma Maria and I read the book and discussed its merits and the astounding testimonies it contained of circumstances and hearts changed by the simple act of praise, Grandma proposed something to me.

"Janine," she said, "from now on, let's promise to remind each other to praise God when something terrible happens. If I call you to pray about something, ask me if I have thanked God for it and I will do the same for you." This was our verbal pinkie promise.

Unfortunately, we were terrible at it. Oh, we were definitely good at reminding each other to praise God in the midst of a crisis--but, invariably, when we asked each other, "Have you praised God?" the answer would be "Uh ... no." The good thing is, our pinkie promise pulled us through. Reminding each other of what we had purposed always got us back on track. And after praising, we never, ever failed to see the hand of God move in every single situation in which we praised--sometimes after a wait, sometimes just receiving peace or a better perspective in our hearts, but always, always, the terrible situation changed for the better.

Take our family member who attempted suicide. Her erstwhile husband (turned out he was still married to his first wife so the "marriage" to our family member was invalid) pushed her buttons to the brink of insanity. So much so that she ended up in the hospital from an attempted suicide.

The day she came home, released from the hospital after that suicide attempt, her "husband" met her at the door and said, "Not so fast! Until you get a job you can't come in here. " And he slammed the door in her face.

There she was, barely recovering emotionally and physically from a traumatic event, and this is how he met her at the door. He conveniently forgot that she had toiled tirelessly to support him all the previous year when his advanced age had shut job opportunity after job opportunity in his face.

She turned, retraced her steps, and left to find a job.

When Auntie, who had gone to help this family member move (there came a time when circumstances forced her to leave the man's side), told me this story, I trembled with rage. How could that creep do this to my family member? This might be one of the few times I remembered to praise through pain without Grandma's encouragement. I tell you, it hurt so much to do this, I slammed my fist into the wall. Good thing it was made of cinder block and that I am not very strong. It hurt enough as it is.

Rubbing salt in the wound was Auntie's observation that our family member was still completely besotted by that awful man. But I stood fast in praising God, no matter what. Aside from the praising, Auntie and I did dedicate one day to fasting and praying for the situation. The result? The next time we saw that family member I am grateful to report that she was finally "over" that awful guy. Praise the Lord! To my dying day I will give God the glory--and attribute the victory in part to praising Him in the midst of an awful, horrible situation. He is worthy to be praised, no matter what.

After being beaten for preaching, Paul and Silas praised God. Here they were in stocks, no medical attention to their wounds, unfairly sentenced to a damp, dark prison for no "good" reason, but they praised. And our ever faithful God responded by shaking the earth, loosing their chains, and bringing salvation to the jailer and his family. (Read this amazing story in Acts 16:23-34.)

God is not a respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). What He did for Paul and Silas, He will do for you. No matter what incredibly horrible circumstance you are facing, no matter the pain, no matter the darkness, no matter the unfairness of it all, turn to Him, lay the pain at His feet and worship. You'll be surprised at what He will do.

"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phillipians4:6-7).