Tuesday, February 21, 2017

A Bad Day

Psalm 34:1-4 says "I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears."

It's easy to say but much harder to do when things go south. You wake up feeling lousy. You get a phone call that gives you bad news. Someone you trust does something that destroys your faith in them. You wreck the car. You get a negative diagnosis from your doctor. Your child gets sick. The list is endless but it doesn't change anything. We're still supposed to bless the Lord at all times.

The last few days, in fact, the last week has been a good week for me. My pain levels have been manageable. Waking up and getting out of bed was hard but after the first hour, things perked up quite a bit and I was able to accomplish many things that usually give me difficulty. It's easy to praise the Lord on days like that. I'm so grateful for even small accomplishments that it's not hard it all. Although, when I first get up I'm praying "please, Jesus, help me", but once the stiffness and the pain lessen I can say it with more enthusiasm.

No, it's those days when things just seem to go wrong with no help from you. That's what it's hard to utter blessings and praises.

I didn't come here to offer you a solution. Today I'm stressed and frustrated and disappointed. I don't feel like blessing the Lord or praising anyone. It doesn't take much to ruin a day. But the Psalm does not say any of those things are an excuse not to bless the Lord. It teaches you how to find your focus and when things are bad, how to ease your desolation.
5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
8 O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. 
9 O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.
11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.
20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
22 The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.  
           -King James Version (KJV) Public Domain
I'm still depressed. I'm still frustrated. I'm still disappointed in people I trusted. But these are not worthy of my attention to the point that it causes me to not bless the Lord or praise him. If I can bless him for the great week I've had then I can also bless him for holding my hand on the bad days.

It has taken me years to get to this place. The journey has been long and arduous and there have been too many times that the things that overwhelmed me drove me to flail against the very one who would comfort me. Blessings were far from my thoughts and railings at my plight were easy. If it were not for the blessings of God, even on the worst days, I would have been gone long ago.

So, I do not have a solution for your lousy day. I cannot help you with your depression. I cannot ease your frustrations. But I can tell you that if you focus on blessing and praising your Creator you will lose sight of the catastrophes for a short time. If you do it often enough it gets easier and the bad day passes. They always do. They may leave scars but they will pass.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me. Bless His holy name. It doesn't take much but the outcome can make tomorrow a better day.

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