Illuminated Journaling: Toe Tapping Praise
I was teaching at a worship
conference several years ago and one of the other teachers was talking about worshiping
in the midst of our difficult times. He said, "Praise in the hard times is
one of the purest ways we can tell God we trust Him." "Praise in the
hard times reminds our hearts that our future is in God's hands, not
ours." and "Praise in the hard times, makes God's heart glad!"
Great teaching, right!?!?! And
then he told a story...and I have remembered the image that he created with
that story ever since. He said, "God told us in Isaiah 66, that heaven is
His throne and earth is His footstool...and I recently made a connection
between that and another scripture found in Acts 16. This is the story of Paul
and Silas singing hymns of praise at midnight after they had been thrown into
prison. As they were singing and praising God, there was an earthquake...!!!"
And then the teacher said,
"Now I don't know if this is true or not - because the Bible doesn't tell
us...but I couldn't help but think that when God heard the praises of Paul and
Silas - His toe began to tap...and the more they sang in joyful abandon - the
gladder His heart got and the faster His toe tapped...to the point that the
earth began to shake beneath His feet resting on it as His footstool!"
Now don't get me wrong...I'm not
sharing this story because I think it is where the earthquake came from...I'm
sharing it because it has become a visual memory that reminds me when I find
myself in a difficult place that the very best thing I can do is PRAISE GOD.
Circumstances should not dictate my praise.
Perhaps that is why I couldn't
imagine another illustration for this verse other than the "chucks" -
they just seemed like the kind of shoes that would be "tapping" along
with a song of praise. One of the things that I love the most about journaling
in my Bible is that the visuals are tied to my study of His Word, and when I
see the picture - I remember the TRUTH that He taught me when we met on the
pages of His Word. Our minds think in pictures...and the pictures and words and
images we add to the pages of our Bibles reinforce our memories...and I bet
THAT makes God's toe tap a bit too!Illuminated Journaling Workshops
I'm excited to tell you that I have developed a series of workshops that focus on Illuminated Journaling. You can pre-register for them now (and save a few $$). To learn more you can click here: Illuminated Journaling Workshops.The tools and supplies I used:
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Thank you for taking the time to stop by for a visit and commenting! Your input means a lot to me. Have a great day! ~Jann