I love hoodie season.
“Hoodie season” is my term for the time between October and March when I can pull out my favorite hooded sweatshirt. Some friends bought me one particular sweatshirt which just embodies the word “cozy” for me. The hood is massive - the company who makes it calls it a “head garage” - and the pockets are deep.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been looking forward to wearing this sweatshirt and curling up with a warm drink in my favorite chair. I’m excited for the changing of seasons and what I haven’t been able to do and wear during the summer.
However, I know that my feelings will not last forever. By the time March comes around next year, I will be done with hoodies. Instead of longing to slide into my favorite sweatshirt, I will long for warmer days, board shorts, and my paddleboard. What I am looking forward to now will be the very thing I’m ready to leave behind and move on from.
These fickle feelings and short-lived enjoyment are part of the reason why my habits of worshiping and praising God are intermittent. Just as I long for my favorite hoodie only to be frustrated with needing it a few months later, I overflow with worship and praise in one circumstance only to withhold it in another.
Perhaps you can relate to this experience of bouncing back and forth between praising God and withholding praise from God. Some days you’re excited to blast your favorite worship song, while on other days you’re quickly skipping over the very same song.
This experience is directly addressed in Elevation Worship’s collaboration with Brandon Lake and Chandler Moore, entitled “Praise.”
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In launching the song, the band shared on social media, “You won’t always feel like praising God. There will be seasons when it’s hard to see God at work, and you’ll feel more discouraged than grateful.”
Psalm 42 reflects this kind of sentiment. “My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration!”
It’s normal to have seasons where our hearts are not “in it” the way they once were - where we don’t feel like praising God.
Elevation Worship directly addressed this feeling and the way we respond to it, when they wrote, “But praise isn’t just a feeling or response when you think of how good God has been to you.” On far too many occasions, our relationship with God is based upon our feelings or mental awareness in a given moment.
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The band continues when they share, “Praise is also a weapon… Praise is how you fight for your perspective. Praise is how you take your imagination back from the enemy. Praise is how you inspire your faith and remember God’s faithfulness.”
This same attitude is repeated multiple times in Psalm 42, where the writer acknowledges his feelings and chooses to praise in spite of them.
“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!”
The song “Praise” offers us an invitation to sing in the middle of all kinds of circumstances, as a way to fight our spiritual enemies.
“I'll praise in the valley, praise on the mountain (Yeah)
I'll praise when I'm sure, praise when I'm doubting
I'll praise when outnumbered, praise when surrounded
'Cause praise is the waters my enemies drown in”
It can be hard to praise in adversity - crazy hard, in fact! When we’re in the valley, when we’re doubting, when we’re outnumbered and when we’re surrounded, praise can feel unnatural and unrealistic. This is difficult because, whether or not we realize it, sometimes we praise God based upon our circumstances or feelings, which like my feelings about my favorite hoodie are not constant.
Instead, “Praise” reminds us that we should praise in all those changing circumstances because of something that is unchanging - the character and faithfulness of God.
“I'll praise 'cause You're sovereign, praise 'cause You reign
Praise 'cause You rose and defeated the grave
I'll praise 'cause You're faithful, praise 'cause You’re true
Praise 'cause there's nobody greater than You”
Our feelings will never be as consistent as God. Our feelings will never be as reliable as God. Our feelings will never be as strong and secure as they need to be, in order to carry us through the highs and lows of life. That’s why we can’t praise God based upon anything that has to do with ourselves or our circumstances.
I’m so grateful for the reminder Elevation Worship has given us to praise God based upon who He is and what He has done. Just as we may not be feeling the weather, we may not be feeling like it’s time to praise.
If that’s where you find yourself today, then turn on “Praise” by Elevation Worship (featuring Brandon Lake and Chandler Moore) and allow them to remind you of the truth about praise.
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer with the best last name in the world. Scott’s writing helps you laugh, challenges you to think, and invites you to grow. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona. Scott is married to Dani, an award-winning attorney, and they are the parents of three growing savages. You can learn more about Scott’s newest resource, The Start-Over Guide, at scottsavagelive.com.
