As you take stock of the year, it’s not a time to muse over the failures and disappointments of the days gone by, but a time to count your blessings and praise the Lord with joyfulness. Rejoice over what the Lord has done for you this year, and celebrate His goodness and wonderful works in your life. Give Him the sacrifice of true worship; make confessions to His Name. He has led and guided you through the year in health, safety, victory, success, and prosperity! Therefore, praise Him excitedly. Perhaps, in the course of the year, you experienced certain difficulties and challenges that made you almost despair of life. Maybe you really don’t see the need to be exuberant with praise to the Lord due to the hardship you experienced in the outgoing year. My counsel to you is, praise Him anyhow! Habakkuk 3:17-19 says, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation...." Observe the profundity of the prophet’s submission in the latter part of the preceding verses. Everything may have failed; everything may have been destroyed; yet, he says, "…I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation." This is the kind of faithresponse you should have when things seem not to be going your way; don’t despair. Instead, reiterate your trust in the Lord by giving Him praise for doing all things well. Recall the testimony of Paul and Silas. Rather than cringe in fear and hopelessness, lamenting their predicament, they decided to praise God joyfully (Read their inspiring story in Acts 16:23-36). It’s time for you to praise God like you’ve never done before. You may not feel like it, but praise Him anyway, because that’s where the victory lies!