Praise You In This Storm

The first song that I am going to write about is “Praise You in the Storm” by Casting Crowns. I know I covered this song on my other blog a little over a year ago, but between then and now so much has happened and I have done more research on this song that I need to write about it again.

What I love about this song is how versatile it is. You can fit it to any trial, or storm, or situation. For those who don’t know, the song stemmed from a memory that Mark Hall, lead singer of Casting Crowns, had of a girl named Erin Browning. Erin did a dance to “Here I Go Again”, another song by Casting Crowns, and her public school. Erin had cancer, and this song was penned for her about her experience, and her faith. Erin passed away before Casting Crowns could play the song for her, but the song is about her and her family, still praising God through the storm. The reason why this song caught my attention again is that doctors are 90% sure that Mark Hall now has a cancer in his kidney, and he is going into surgery to have his kidney removed. Now when this first came out, he posted about it on Facebook and social media, and on the bottom of the post was “Praise Him in this Storm,” and really on any other posts that they have had, it ends with that same theme of praising God in the storm. It blows my mind that they receive news like this, but they are still praising God, for that doesn’t happen in society. If something goes wrong, we get angry and we want to blame anyone, even God for our problems. The thing is that we need to continue to praise God in our storms and Mark Hall, and his family, and Casting Crowns aren’t the first ones to put this idea into practice. We can look at Job for another example of this. Job lost pretty much everything, his crops, animals, servants, and family. Job had nothing, and through all this he praised God.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

And naked I depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

May the name of the Lord be praised. (Job 1:21)”

To praise God like this when he just lost everything, takes incredible faith. But the story continues and verse 22 says, “In all of this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” Job lost everything, and it would have been super easy to blame God, but he didn’t and neither should we. We need to become more like Job or Mark, and praise God whenever we go through storms, and that is the point of this song. We have the ability to turn to this song and praise God, even when we don’t feel like doing so. It also blows my mind how Casting Crowns worked in a couple of verse from the Bible that goes,

I lift my eyes unto the hills

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord

The Maker of Heaven and Earth (Psalms 121:1-2)

Not only are we able to praise God through this song, but it comes as a great reminder that our help comes from God. The same God who made the universe and everything inside, the same God who died for our sins, is here to help us through the storms. We can find peace in the fact that he is with us through the storm, and it makes it that much easier to praise Him.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I want to praise you for all that you have done for me, for dying on the cross for my sins, and for you love and grace that is new every day. Thank you for being with me in the storms of my life. I pray for Mark Hall that you will allow the surgery to go well, and that the cancer doesn’t spread out of his kidney. Thank you for this song and for you constant love. Amen.