PRAISE IS WHAT I DO - NO OTHER OPTION By O'Neal Porter For years, I have taught the church that "life will be life." What exactly does that mean? It simply means that life is filled with good and bad, ups and downs, smiles and frowns, successes and failures, positives and negatives. It does not matter what your level of spirituality is, life still happens. Natural disasters. Sickness and disease. Terrorist attacks. Gang violence. Drug abuse. Divorce. Teenage pregnancy. Racial discrimination. War. Poverty. These are not far off or far away occurrences. They are real events that we are challenged with everyday. Hurricane Katrina, September 11 (9-11), the war in Iraq, and to bring it even closer - your friend with AIDS, your cousin whose marriage failed, your aunt with cancer, your child on drugs, your employment that is uncertain, the crack addict on the corner, the little boy whose father just died, the mother struggling to raise her children as a single parent. Some of these are issues that even your own household has to deal with on a daily basis. As Christians, we must be prepared to handle the challenges of life and not allow life to overwhelm us. It does not matter how spiritually deep you are or how heavenly high you may be, you must still understand the facts of this life. Good things happen to bad people. And, bad things happen to good people. In Matthew 5:45 the Scriptures declare: ."for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust." So, there is nothing that you or I can do to prevent some things in life from occurring. Life will still present challenges on a daily basis, including: divorce, loss of job, drug addiction, abuse, infirmities, family problems, discrimination, death, fears, and the list is endless. The presence of these issues does not denote what type person you are. However, the key for Christians is how you allow those "life issues" to affect you. There is a key to surviving life It is a spiritual key. You must cause your spirit man to be in charge of your soulish man and flesh. You cannot just let your emotions get the best of you. You must even dismiss your "five senses" and allow faith to kick in and begin to operate. You must allow the wisdom and revelation that God deposits in your heart to control the actions of your mind and body. God has provided a way to bring His glory into what seems like a "hell-filled" life. When the Spirit of Christ takes His rightful place in your life things will change. When the knowledge of the Word of God takes preeminence in your life, things will change. I know that many Christians struggle everyday. Sometimes, you may feel like giving up. Sometimes it seems as though you have already lost the battle. Sometimes the devil is talking so loud, you can't hear anything else. When nothing works When everything goes wrong What do you do? Praise Is What I Do No Other Option.