Dear L&F,
How are you doing?
I hope you are enjoying each day that the Lord gives to you!
Sometimes, if I am having a particularly terrible day, Psalm 11:24 serves as a kick-in-the-pants reminder for me:
“This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Reading this helps me to stop thinking (okay, the more specific words would be stewing or worrying) about my problems and to instead think about ways to apply this verse to my day.
When the day is so bad that I wish that I could just start it over, I look for ways to do just that. I call it, “Taking Back the Day”.
I might put on some pleasant music – especially music that is edifying to the soul, like hymns. I concentrate on the words, and I find it’s very hard to sulk after that.
Or, I might do something different from the normal routine like packing everyone up and going for a walk or to the Dollar Tree.
If there seems to be “nothing” (and I put it in quotes, because, really, there is always something – even if it is just the air we breathe) I try to actively find things to create or do to lift the dark clouds, thanking God for each step of the process. I might walk around a room and thank God for providing every little thing I see. It sounds silly but it works!
Another thing to do that is fun is to look through photos and thank God for happy memories and for the people we see in each picture. We can take a moment to pray for each one specifically or to thank God for allowing us the pleasure of knowing that person while they were still alive and for the influence they had on our family.
“Taking Back the Day” isn’t just to make us feel better, it is reclaiming it for God’s glory.
Sometimes days are bad, not just because of events beyond our control, but because of the way we have responded to them. If this is the case, reclaiming the day for God’s glory must include, and even begin with, confession of sin. This means attitudes we have or things we have said or done in selfishness, anger or revenge. Or, we may need to confess that we have not had a thankful heart throughout the day.
We must also go back and be reconciled to the people we have sinned against. We must never blame the bad day for our sin – though we can certainly explain what happened that day because the people in our life care about us and can give us a much-needed hug!
Remember, bad days only bring out things that are already stored in our hearts:
Matthew 12:34-35 says, “(34c)For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (35)For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. ”
We can reclaim the day for God’s glory no matter how late into our bad day by confessing our sin to God and to others, and by obeying God’s word. Meditate on things from Philippians 4:4-9. Notice how this passage begins with rejoicing?
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Some of the suggestions I mentioned before are helpful ways to find lovely things :)
I hope that this note finds you both having a good day – one where things that cause your heart to rejoice seem to be all around you and obviously so!
I love you both very much and I write these important things to you because I wish that someone had written them to me when I was your age. If you know and practice these things, not only will you be more mature than most adults, you will find that your life will be enjoyable because your relationship with God is strong and because you trust in Him during both good time as and bad times.
If I’m ever having a bad day, please remind me what I wrote okay?
[Noted personal prayer requests]
Let me know how I can pray for you!
Much love,
Mrs. Albrecht
Photo credit: Iheartlinen via Flickr