DON’T HANG YOUR HARP

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise. Awake up, my glory; AWAKE, PSALTERY and HARP: I myself will awake early – Psalm 57:7-8

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. WE HANGED OUR HARPS upon the willows in the midst thereof – Psalm 137:1-2

Irrespective of our current situation or circumstances, You and I can choose to either AWAKE our harps or HANG our harps.

I choose to AWAKE my harp. I refuse to HANG my harp!
I choose to REJOICE in the Lord. I refuse to REGRET!
I choose to PRAISE the Lord. I refuse to WORRY or FRET!
I choose to be THANKFUL. I refuse to be THANKLESS.

My choice is based on these inviolate truths:
 God designed the me – as a Believer in Christ – to be TOUGHER than the TOUGH TIMES!
 Tough Times are designed to TOUGHEN, not to terrify or destroy the believer!

If you also are a Believer in Christ, YOU are TOUGHER than the TOUGH TIMES for at least three reasons:

• YOU WERE BORN OF GOD! – 1John 5:4 “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world”: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

• YOU HAVE GOD’S WORD in You! – 1John 2:14 “…I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one”
• YOU ARE OF GOD, you belong to Him, and He – the Greater One – is in You! 1John 4: 4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world”.

Tough times are not times to sit down and weep, with hung-up harps (Psa. 137:1-4). They are times to arise and rejoice, knowing the Lord is near (Philippians 4:4). They are times for our hearts to be fixed in faith and to sing the high praises of our God (Psa.57:7-8). They are times to arise and shine, knowing that our light is come (Isaiah 60:1).

Challenging seasons are seasons to rise up, praise God and see the prison gates divinely dismantled:
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed – Acts 16:25-26.

Isaiah 24:15 says: “Wherefore glorify ye the Lord in the fires, even the name of the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea”. Whether through fires or through floods, “count it all joy” (Jam.1:2-4), Jesus Christ IS LORD and He remains LORD forever! (Psalm 66:12).

You must not give up in the dark what God has revealed to you in the light. You must NEVER hang your harp. Awake, psaltery and harp…