A certain man who had been absent from church for a long time received an inquiring visit from the Pastor.
The man told the Pastor, "I've attended nearly every Sunday for 30 years. In that time, I have heard something like 1,500 sermons. In all of those years, people were shouting praises to God and thanking him. I listened to the sermons and the praises, but for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them.
So, I think I'm wasting my time, and you, brother pastor, are wasting your time by giving sermons and all of those words of praise that I can't even remember.
The Pastor said, "I've been married for 30 years now. During this time, my wife has prepared me over 30,000 meals. She closed out every day by saying, "I love you," and read me a scripture, poem, or cute little phrase over 11,000 times. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals or remember a single one of those poems.
But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. I couldn't remember a single poem, but they all made me feel I was loved.
When you worship the Lord, you may not remember every sermon title or be able to recite every verse. But at the end of the day, you know they mean "God loves you.”
When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something!
When there is trouble all around, God is still on the throne, and he will never leave us alone.
God is great, and He is greatly to be praised!