Can I be honest with
you and tell you that some days life is hard? Some days I wake up thinking my
day is going to go one way and instead it goes a completely different way. For
a person that likes to be in charge, who likes to plan, and know exactly what
to expect for the day ahead, that's not always easy. On days like that, days
like today, I have to constantly remind myself that a bad day does NOT equal a
bad life. Please tell me I'm not the only person that feels this way.
Today was one of
those days. I fully expected the day to turn out one way and from the very
beginning it headed in a different direction.
Today was a day where my overly active girly emotions threatened to take
over multiple times (for a rather stupid reason I might add) and I had to fight hard to keep them in
check. Today was a day where I had to make a conscious effort all day long not
to get irritated with those around me. I had to make a choice not to be cranky
and upset by every little thing and at times it was hard.
Today was what I
like to call a moment-by-moment day. One of those days where I have to ask for
God's grace and peace moment-by-moment. Can I tell you how thankful I am that
He offers that unfathomable grace and peace to me?
I am so very
undeserving of the grace that God gives me. There is NOTHING I will ever be
able to do to deserve it but for some reason, He is always there, always
offering it to me. Days when I feel like
things are falling apart, He is there holding it all together in His hands.
Colossians 1:17 tells us this-
"He is before all
things, and in him all things hold together."
I'm so thankful that
the creator of the universe holds all things together in His hands so we don't
have to. In my head I know this truth, I know in those moments where chaos sets
in, He is whispering for me to let go, to trust that He's got it. Yet it seems
like a lesson I'm constantly having to learn over and over again.
When I look back
over the last several months, I see God's teaching of this very lesson in my
life. I hear His voice calling out for me to let go of the situation, trusting
fully that He is in control and He is holding all things together.
I think in life
however, it's hard for us to do that at times. At least it is for me. We live
in a society that is driven my selfishness. Everything around us is geared
towards making us happy, making sure we get exactly what we want, making sure
everything is smooth sailing. And that's not reality. We have become so
consumed with our own personal happiness and making sure everything in life
goes exactly according to our plans, we have taken the reins back from the only
one who has walked the path before us.
We often decide we
know better than He does and we often take a short cut just to avoid what
appears to be a rocky road ahead. What I find so often in my own life is this-
when I try to hold it all together, when I try to map out the route, that's
when things fall apart. That’s when a bad day begins to look like a bad life,
and those overly active girly emotions begin to pop up again.
The fact of the
matter is this- there will ALWAYS be bad days in life. There will ALWAYS be
trials and struggles. And God will ALWAYS be there, offering his grace and
peace for the moment. I don't think we will ever get to a place in this life
where we don't face those bad days. It's a product of a fallen world. I think
so often we think that a life in Christ is without struggle, without bad days.
And that's simply not the case.
Does God like to see
His people suffer? No. Does God allow us to stay in tough situations at times?
Yes. But He doesn't do it because he gets enjoyment out of our hardship. He
doesn't do it because he likes to see us squirm or because he likes to watch us
fight back emotions all day. I think sometimes He allows us to remain in those
situations, he allows the apparent bad days to happen because it reinforces our
need of Him.
He didn't put us on
this earth so we had to figure everything out and do everything on our
own. We are His creation and as such, He
wants us to find our strength in Him. He wants to pour out that grace over our
lives so that we can be victorious over the situations of our bad days. It's
why He sent his son to die for us. Knowing that I don't have to figure it all
out on my own, that I don't have to be in charge and that I don't have to hold
all things together should be a balm for my wounded spirit on those bad days.
Psalm 29:11 tells us-
"The Lord gives
strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace."
I firmly believe
that in EVERY situation in our lives, God is there pouring out His grace, His
peace, His love, and His strength. At some point, we must decide to relinquish
control and reach out and take what He is offering. It's a concept that seems
so simple, yet on days like today, it often becomes a moment-by-moment
decision. And that's ok.
I like to think that
one day, I'll welcome the "bad days" of life with a smile on my face
knowing that at the end of it,
I'll be closer to
the savior than when I started, having reached out and taken hold of His
strength and peace with every breath I took.
He is certainly
there offering it to each of us. And we each have a choice to make. In every
situation, we must choose whether to allow a bad day to seem like a bad life,
or to reach out and find the strength that we need, moment-by-moment drawing
close to the Savior who's holding all things together.
There will be
moments when I fail to reach out and take hold of the strength and grace He is
offering. Days when I lose my cool and make a bad situation worse but God will
still be right there waiting. Waiting to remind me that His mercies are new
every morning and that He has the grace I need moment-by-moment. I just have to
decide to take it.
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