“To be grateful for an unanswered prayer, to give thanks in a state of interior desolation, to trust in the love of God in the face of the marvels, cruel circumstances, obscenities, and commonplaces of life is to whisper a doxology in darkness.” (Brennan Manning).

I love this quote so much. I’m sure I’ve put it in a blog post before, but it’s just so good. And true.

It’s one thing to sing praise songs when the weather’s nice, when my job is going well, when everybody I love is happy and healthy, and when my checkbook is solidly in the black.

But how many could sing a doxology staring in the face of death? How many could still worship in the wake of financial hardships or health scares?

The answer is yes, but only by the grace of God.

Left to myself, I won’t choose to sing. I might choose to curse, but not to worship. I’d definitely complain more than I’d belt out praise choruses.

The true test of a faithful witness isn’t how loudly we sing when life is good, but how you and I can keep reminding each other of the goodness of God when life gets hard. We can still sing, even if it’s just a whisper . . . or even no words come out at all.

A single doxology in the darkness brings God more joy than all the Hallelujah choruses and all the Beethoven’s Fifth Symphonies and all the greatest choirs singing all the greatest hymns ever written. Just one.