This day

           A little over a week ago, most of our family went to the mountains.  We arrived on Friday evening to rain.  Cold rain.  Pounding rain.  And fog, lots of fog.  We were completely enveloped by a blanket of chilly, damp, grey.  We couldn't see more than a few feet in front of us.
           The next morning...same thing.  More cold, grey, rain, fog.  We'd look out over the valley on our porch and saw...absolutely nothing.  I'd have never believed even a tree, blade of grass, or any other living thing existed out there in that vast white deadness.  And it lasted all. day. long.  And into the evening.
            Isn't that like life sometimes?  We feel alone, discouraged, fearful.  Slogging through some hard or exhausting time.  Anxious and uncertain about what's around the bend.  Thinking we're surely the only one.
            But faith says we're never ever alone.  Faith says God's in control. Faith says all of God's promises are "Yes!" in Jesus.  Faith says we walk by faith in our never-changing omnipotent God rather than worrying and wobbling along based on our ever-vacillating unreliable feelings.
            And faith says everyday--every single day--is a gift to be opened and enjoyed, not a burden to be endured or wished away.  Even the hardest of days have God's fingerprints all over them.  As such, they are His never-to-be-repeated gift of 1,440 minutes for us to love Him and love people.

            Sure enough, Sunday dawned spectacular--a gigantic painting only God could craft.  The sun melted the darkness with an astounding show of color and clouds.  It had all been there all along--all the trees, all the valley below, all the birds and butterflies and mountain ranges.  Just because we couldn't see it, didn't matter one iota.  The rain and fog temporarily clouded our vision, but not the reality of what was still there.  It was always there.  A brand new, sparkling day.  But isn't everyday like that?
            Thank You Lord for every gift of a new day.  Thank You that You promise that "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lam.3:22-23)  Thank You that those very words were written by the "weeping prophet," Jeremiah in a time of great sorrow and distress for the people of Israel.  Despite the fog of sadness and tragedy, Jeremiah knew God was still there.  Jeremiah trusted that God still loved His people.  And he still believed in God's forever faithfulness and endless mercies.
             A very dear friend of mine just lost her godly, wonderful Mama.  And right now, I'm sure the fog of sorrow and the rain of missing her feel overwhelming, even oppressive at times.  But I also know that the Lord Almighty is there, working and moving and redeeming and reviving in the midst of it all.  We might see the clouds, fog and rain on this side, but her Mama, oh her Mama on the other side, sees nothing but glory, light, wonder, radiance, joy, love, laughter...and Jesus.
            Apparently her Mama's favorite verse, and one she recited every morning, is Psalm 118:24: "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  I had to smile when I heard it, because it's always been one of my favorites as well, and it's the first thing I say out loud every morning. That along with Ps.143:8 "Let me hear in the morning of Your steadfast love, for in You I trust.  Make me know the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul."  I speak them both out loud each morning to Mr. Bingley (since he's the only one up) so my heart can be reminded that this new day is a gift from God.
          And it's His gift to you too.  Might these verses counsel our hearts that the Lord wants us to rejoice in this day.  That His love for us is steadfast--no matter what's going on or how we might feel.  And that He will guide and direct us this day--for these glittering, never-to-be-repeated 24 hours of time.          
        As long as He gives us breath in our lungs, might we rejoice in Him, expend ourselves in love, and live this day to His glory.  Let's do it this day...until He takes us Home.  And then, oh my then, well why don't we let John Donne tell us--
            "I shall rise from the dead...I shall see the Son of God, the Sun of Glory, and shine myself as that sun shines.  I shall be united to the Ancient of Days, to God Himself, who had no morning, never began...No man ever saw God and lived.  And yet, I shall not live till I see God; and when I have seen Him, I shall never die."
           Until that glorious day when we see Him face to face, this is the day the Lord has made.  Because He made it, because He's given it to us, we will rejoice and be glad in it.
          Until that wondrous day of our Homegoing, this day, this very day, we will obey, forgive, love, give, trust, worship, and rejoice...all by His grace, all for His glory.
           To God--to the Resurrected Sun of Glory, our Redeemer, the Ancient of Days, and our King of Kings--be all the glory.  

One of those days...

        The other day, I had "one of those days."  Nothing major or even specific had occurred.  I guess it was more like a million teensy piranhas nibbled away at my joy and hope, so that by the end of day, I felt utterly discouraged and defeated.  Honestly, looking back, I'd have to point to a lack of sleep as one of the major contributing factors.  But throw into the mix sorrow over various hardships some dear friends are facing, as well as plain old feelings of being completely overwhelmed by too much to do with too little time and ability to do it.
        But here's the thing: when these feelings of discouragement and anxious stress overwhelm me, I'm inevitably doing one thing...and failing to do another.  Let me explain.
       What I'm doing: fixating on all the tasks, difficulties, and challenges facing me totally apart from Christ.  Yep, figuring and calculating and planning without taking into account the sovereign power, abounding love, amazing grace, endless mercy, and infinite power of Almighty God.
      Gee whiz, will I never learn?  Please tell me I'm not the only one whose default position, all too often, is to unconsciously but pridefully assume it's all up to me and my paltry abilities and resources.        BUT IT'S NOT!!  God's Word provides us with a stunning treasure trove of promises of God's limitless ability, wisdom, power, and provision.  But we have to choose--yes, choose--to exit the pity party, open the Word, and ask God to speak to us and strengthen us through His Word.
       Just today, in fact, I sent this promise to one of my children who was feeling really overwhelmed at work:"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." (Isa.41:10)
       Or how about "God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that having ALL sufficiency in ALL things at ALL times, you may abound in EVERY good work." (2 Cor.9:8)  That's a lot of "alls" and a mighty nice "every" thrown in there, right?  Yet somehow we think it's all up to us?
       And there's this one: "'I will never leave you nor forsake you;' So we can confidently say, 'The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'" (Heb.13:5-6)
       And "He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?" (Rom.8:32)  
      Yes, I could go on and on and on, but check it out yourself.  There is nothing like God's Word!  When those feelings of fear or anxiety or despair set in, open the Word.  Open and read.  Open and be filled.  Open and be reminded of Who your mighty Lord is, all He has done, all He has promised, and all He will do.
         I mentioned there was one thing I did wrong but also one thing I failed to do, and it's related to all of the above.  I failed to preach the gospel to myself.  Because nobody preaches to you more than you.  And the question always is--what are you preaching to yourself?  What are you muttering to yourself?  Words of life or death?  Words of hope or despair?  Words of rock solid Truth or of vacillating lying emotions?  Are you preaching the good news of the gospel of our Redeemer and Savior or the bad news of your feelings, your inadequacies, your fears?
        Even if we don't have a Bible handy, when those feelings of discouragement and fear assail us, we need to start preachin' right then and there!  Before those beginning little thoughts morph into a monster mountain of fear and despair, we need to quickly, immediately, ASAP start preaching!  Preaching God's Truth.  Preaching the true Truth.  Preaching the gracious Truth.  Preaching the powerful Truth.  Preaching the joyful Truth.  Preaching the you're-never-alone Truth.  Preaching the God's-got-this Truth.  Preaching the He's-never-ever-failed-me-before-and He's-not-gonna-start-now Truth!
        Preach the gospel whether you "feel" like it or not.  Because the power's not in us, or our emotion, or our abilities, or our anything.  The power is in Jesus--the beautiful, omnipotent Living Word and in His supernatural written Word, the Bible.
        I don't know if you're having "one of those days" or if you're having a whole, long, hard season of those kinds of days, but this I do know: our God is able.  Infinitely, eternally, perfectly able to help you, lead you, equip you, strengthen you, comfort you, and empower you to get through it to the other side.  Not somehow, but triumphantly.  But you've got to remember not to do--don't trust your crazy emotions and assume it's all up to you.  And you've got to remember what to do--trust God, open His Word, and preach that life-giving Word to yourself.
        To God be the glory.