Today’s song is Praise Him in Advance by Marvin Sapp from his Thirsty album. This song helped birth a miracle in my life and produced one of my favorite testimonies.

So the story goes a little like this…

The rent was due! Actually, it was past due and I had just a few days before my property manager was going to proceed with eviction. I had already gone through a cycle of that earlier and took a huge gut punch from the enemy but survived. After this, he tried to use that situation to get me to partner up with his funky cousins…Guilt, Shame, and Condemnation! But I was determined and trusted God. If I didn’t know anything else I knew that He had sent me to California. I knew that I was doing exactly what He told me to do. Why were things panning out this way? Why couldn’t I accept that job? Why was trusting Him completely looking a lot like I was being set up for a major letdown? I had no clue. What I did know was that He promised that He would not let me be put to shame (Isaiah 54:4). He promised that if I believed in Him and obeyed his commandment, He would deliver me.

When the Lord illuminated this song to me (right after that gut punch!) it became not only my theme song but my strategy! Whenever negative thoughts came my way, or the enemy and his funky cousins tried distracting me, my strategy was to Stop, Drop, and Praise!

I Stopped – I separated myself from whatever I was doing and got still. 

” Stand still and see the salvation of your Lord” Exodus 14:13 

I Dropped – I got on my knees and prayed! 

”In everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God” Philippians 4:6

I Praised – I glorified and praised God in song and dance. 

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing” Psalm 100

That had become my strategy in that season and it kept me from falling apart. Because it’s easy to fall apart when every string is being pulled and pressure is coming on every side. Imagine telling your landlord “You’re trusting God for your rent,” and the dead silence and then laughter on the other end of the phone! Yet, I stood firm and held on to the Word regardless of the ridicule and the risk of embarrassment. 

Regardless of all of the chatter from the enemy and the questions from others about why I couldn’t just do what God told me to do and this over here, I had to stand firm. And Fam, it was hard! It’s unbelievably hard to trust God when it looks like you’re losing and like Job’s wife, everyone around you is telling you to curse God and die. Just give up on this “god thing” and get a real job or whatever unsolicited advice was being touted for the day.

Well, on this particular day, I was in the midst of my strategy and there was a knock on the door. I was a bit perplexed because I wasn’t expecting anyone. While still on my knees I called out “Who is it?” and the guy was like, FedEx. I got up and went to the door still skeptical because I hadn’t ordered anything and definitely wasn’t expecting a package. In my mind, I’m thinking he surely has the wrong apartment. So I open the door and he’s like, Harris? “Yes, I reply.” He gestures for me to sign my name on his device and then hands me an envelope. I close the door still curious as to who sent me something and what it would be. I opened the envelope and there was a letter and a check for $2797 from a lady I never met and had only spoken to twice. 

My praise party that day had me dancing all the way to the bank and to the property management office to pay my rent as well as two months in advance! That was the first huge monetary blessing I had ever received. You can’t even begin to imagine the joy I felt walking into the office and saying to my property manager who laughed at me, “Well, God paid my rent…and here’s rent for the next two months! Have a blessed day.” 🤣🤣

I share this song and testimony with you because God is faithful that promised. This faith journey is not for the faint of heart because it will take you way beyond your comfort zone and stretch the limits of what you thought was possible. It will take you places others fear to tread but your faith causes you to run towards!

So for all my peeps walking in FAITH and TRUSTING GOD, keep believing, keep praying, and keep praising! God will not let you be put to shame.

Until next time…Be Blessed & Go Forth in Faith…Smooches😘😘

P.S. Here is a photo of a letter! Isn’t our Father Amazingly GOOD!!