English to French Other Religion General

I know this expression has positive connotation and generally means "to be praised/noticed for doing something good". I really can't see how it fits my context giving that what the person did was negative - see context below.

The first church I ever worked at I was preaching one time and it wasn't going real well, and the next thing I knew, I was lying on the platform. I had fainted dead away in my own mess. This is a true story. And I thought it was an aberration, and the next time I got up to preach, the same thing happened. I fainted dead away. And this was at a Baptist church. It was not at a charismatic church where you get credit for that kind of thing.

Thanks for your help!