"Oh sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

tell of His salvation from day to day. 

Declare his glory among the nations, 

his marvelous works among all the peoples! 

For GREAT is the Lord, 

and greatly to be praised.

He is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, 

but the Lord made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, 

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name;

bring an offering, and come into his courts!

Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;

tremble before Him all the earth!" 

Psalms 96:1-9

Gives me goosebumps...It's beautiful isn't it? I really could not have put into words as beautiful as these how much my heart wants to only give glory to the Lord...and I'll tell you why. 

It's a really simple story actually. Kinda silly. But, boy, did I get a kick out of it. 

So, as it happens every now and then, I ran out of money the other day. I've been working this international economics conference at the University of Palermo this week, so I've been having to take the bus 4 times a day between home, school, and the university. It's been a PAIN. Well, today, I was completely broke and completely unable to buy a bus ticket...let alone 4! I have about 15 cents in my pocket...that wasn't getting me anywhere. but I HAD to take the bus, or I wasn't going to get where I needed to go. 

So, like I HATE to do, I hopped on the bus without a ticket and as my heart thumped away in fear of the "ticket police" as I call them, I began to pray, pleading with God. Like swearing that I would buy 10 tickets for other people if I could just get through this 8 mile bus ride without the ticket police...it was like I was praying without any faith whatsoever that God was going to answer me or protect me. 

I immediately felt my heart just feel completely convicted...why was I doubting so much that God would do what I was asking Him to do? Even the simplest of things...like getting caught on the bus without a ticket. I get through the first bus ride...absolutely fine. A-OK. Cool...well that was one out of 4 - no way my odds are going to be as good on the next one right? 

Well...that would be true if luck existed. I got through the 2nd bus ride perfectly fine. I got to work on time. Everything was perfect. But the 3rd? Is God big enough to do that a 3rd time? Got back to the university without a single problem. But the 4th...why would God let me get home on the 4th bus after this whole day without giving me some sort of consequence for using all my money and not thinking ahead about having to buy stupid bus tickets? Was it possible? Was it even the right thing? 

Does it even matter? I started thinking, why am I even praying if I don't believe that God will answer me? Who am I talking to? I'm talking to my daddy. And you know what, even if the strangely intimidating ticket police HAD gotten onto my 4th bus, I fully believe that God would have gotten me through that situation to. NOTICE: I didn't say get me OUT of that situation. I said get me through it. 

But I didn't even have to worry about it!! Ya'll, I swear, I rode 4 buses today in Palermo without seeing a single ticket man. That's unheard of with my "luck!!"

Some of you might say, "Oh, well it was just a coincidence. I mean, it's possible for a person to ride the bus that doesn't pass the ticket police." And I could have easily said that as well...but I didn't. Because, I have given up the idea of coincidences. They just simply don't exist. 

So that is why my heart is screaming "ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!! FOR HE IS GOOD!" The Lord IS faithful. Why won't I trust Him even in the simplest of things? How can I trust Him with the bigger things? 

God is so much bigger than we give him credit for sometimes...We pray so half-heartedly, secretly believing that there is no possible way that God will hear us or answer us because we are undeserving, or it's too big of a task, or whatever. 

But it's not true! God always answers prayers...our prayers NEVER go unheard or unanswered. It just is sometimes not the answer that we want. Like one of my dearest friends always says, "God always either says 'yes, no, or not right now.'" 

But we can't even trust in that when things don't go our way. When the bus is late. Or we stub our toe. Or our best friend betrays us. And we get fired from our jobs. Or we lose a family member. When something bad happens to a good person. Or we don't get that pony we've been asking for for every Christmas. If God is so good, why doesn't He give us everything we want?? 

Well...have you seen a child who gets everything that they want from their parents? I need not say more. 

Point is: God is bigger than us. He is in control. He loves us more than we can understand or imagine. So we should trust Him. 

But BEWARE. When you start trusting in God is when things will start to get crazy in your life...because there is someone who doesn't want you to trust in the Father. He wants you to trust in yourself, your own knowledge, your own understanding. And lots of times we lose faith in God because we lose things that are precious to us. Just open your Bible and meet my friend Job. (or Gob however your prefer :) 

Glory be to God. Sing unto the Lord a NEW song. The new song that I want to be hearing, is people praising God EVEN when things are tough. Even when things are so impossibly difficult you can barely get yourself out of bed in the morning. I want to hear all the voices of the earth who are hurting, who are lonely, who are battered and bruised. I want to hear those voices CRYING out to God in PRAISE FOR WHO HE IS!!!

Even when things suck. That's a new song. That's a completely different song that what the world is singing. 

All glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. My life is in His hands. Can't go wrong.