‘Even when it hurts like hell, I’ll praise you’
- May 11
- 4 min read
Each month on Salvos Online, Rosy, the Territorial Secretary for Spiritual Life Development, shares her thoughts and reflections on the spiritual issues that shape our lives as Christians, exploring how our faith intersects with our everyday experiences and how we can deepen our relationship with God. Today she focuses on worshipping God amidst the trials of life.
Do you get sick the moment there is even a hint of a holiday coming? Please tell me you do, so I feel less alone! Apparently, three per cent of the population have the same unfortunate knack for getting sick every time a holiday comes.
I just returned from two weeks’ holiday in our homeland, New Zealand. Logistically, all our plans to see friends and family went off without a hitch, but I became unwell on day one and remained so for the entire time. It wasn’t a great feeling to return from what should have been a break, exhausted and unwell.
I read about the term “soldiers’ sickness”, coined for soldiers returning from war who would instantly fall sick as their immune systems crashed after prolonged fighting. I try as best I can to manage my time, build rhythms of rest into my day and week, and “look after myself”.
I’ve heard all the “you just need to …”, of diet, exercise, sabbath and sleep, but the reality is that chronic illness means my immune system is worse than most. And when other illnesses pile on top, it can feel so wearing that it becomes a burden too great to bear.
On returning from New Zealand, one of my first work commitments was two days in Cairns with The Salvation Army’s Board. I have served on the Board for the past three years, a great privilege and a glorious challenge. We meet every quarter, always in a different part of Australia, to spend time experiencing the services and ministries in that region before we commence the immense work of governing across the movement.
This time, we were met at the airport by Majors Emma and Ben Johnson, who serve the community through The Salvation Army in Cairns. With multiple stores and services, and multicultural, multilingual members and staff, Cairns is a vibrant expression of the ministry of God at work in a remote part of the nation, drawing close partnerships with community members and organisations alike.
We visited a local aged care centre and heard stories from the chaplain and staff about the triumphs and challenges of serving some of the most vulnerable in the aged population, including using the chapel as a makeshift shelter when cyclones hit and knocked out local roads.
We met staff and leaders who welcomed us and represented the collaboration that has been nurtured over Emma and Ben’s nine years in the area.
While we were there, the community experienced a sudden loss, prompting a question about whether the cultural night planned for the Board would still be appropriate.
The community decided we would proceed. As we were honoured with gifts and cultural clothing, dance and food, the generosity of the Cairns network was on full display.
As we worshipped in different languages and prayed for one another, there was a shared reverence, I felt, because we knew this community was inviting us into a tender moment in their lives. They chose to rejoice and celebrate with us even as they grieved.
As I reflected on the hospitality of this experience, I realised there was something deeply radical about the generosity and love I saw modelled.
The cultural night hosted by the Cairns Corps was filled with generous love and open faithfulness.
I think God is trying to tell me something through the faithful openness of the Cairns Salvation Army family – that the measure of love and endurance is not when things are going well or only a little trying, but perhaps when we are at our lowest. Refusing to withdraw, choosing instead to hold together in community through trial and grief. The New Zealand national anthem says, “In the bonds of love we meet.”
I often feel let down and disappointed by my own body and its limitations, and a little angry with God for not healing me more quickly.
Brooke Fraser wrote the lyrics, “even when it hurts like hell, I’ll praise you”. Because love is not only about loving one another but receiving the love of God and offering worship in the midst of trial. It is about loving ourselves and our bodies even when they fail us or fall short. After all, they too were made by God.
Take this mountain weight Take these ocean tears Hold me through the trial Come like hope again Even when the fight seems lost I’ll praise You Even when it hurts like hell I’ll praise You Even when it makes no sense to sing Louder then I’ll sing Your praise (Hillsong United, Even When It Hurts)
Maybe that is how the bonds of love deepen and strengthen. In the midst of trial, refusing to stop praising. Refusing to stop rejoicing.
For God is good, and God’s love endures forever.
“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:15–16 NIV)
