The Proper Response in Adversity - Part II
by Dr. John Tetsola

 

Last month we saw that by protecting our faith in trial, by refusing to be governed by unbelief, and by maintaining the right view of God, we are enabled to properly respond in adversity. In believing God for a son, Abraham wasn’t affected by age, impotence, or the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Instead, he was more assured of God’s faithfulness and ability to keep His word, than all of the odds against him. For this reason, Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness (Rom. 4:22). Now, let’s see how the weapon of praise is used in adversity to produce a response that leads to breakthrough.

THE WEAPON OF PRAISE

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
Psalm 42:5 KJV

We maintain the proper response in adversity by committing to worship, praise and glorify God in the midst of our storms. Praise and worship is a faculty of our spirit. It is not a feeling, but it’s a force in our spirit that releases the weapon of deliverance over our circumstances. When David’s soul was cast down, he soliloquized and addressed his soul by means of his spirit. In a soliloquy you talk to yourself. David knew his soul was not producing the right response. ‘Why are you disquieted soul?’ The word disquieted means “deprived of peace or rest.” The Bible commands us in Psalm 110:2 to rule in the midst of our enemies. Part of ruling over the enemy in adversity is by praising, worshipping and glorifying God when the enemy tries to extract the opposite.

But about midnight, as Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the [other] prisoners were listening to them,

Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the very foundations of the prison were shaken; and at once all the doors were opened and everyone's shackles were unfastened.
Acts 16:25-26 AMP

When Paul and Silas were imprisoned, they didn’t succumb to frustration or the pain of their circumstances. Instead, they ruled over the pain, discouragement and anxiety of their situation by compelling their will to praise God. Praise was the weapon that loosed their shackles and unlocked the prison doors. By ruling their circumstances with the weapon of praise, God brought them out sooner than they ever expected. Do the same over your circumstances. Don’t allow your emotions to dictate a response that keeps you in shackles. Dance over the situation and determine in your heart to use the weapon of praise.