This is a day the Lord has made. And He’s given it to me. What will this day hold?
Where will I be at the end of this day? How will I start it?
Will I walk in praise? Will I keep my eyes on Jesus? Will I lament my trials? Will I choose joy, or sadness? What words will I speak? Will I bless others? Will I bless the Lord?
In the end, will I say thank You, Lord, for this day, and go to sleep in peace? Will I know He’s got me covered? Will I proclaim it?
Praise, joy, blessing, thankfulness, peace, covered and cared for. I don’t always feel these things. I don’t always know them. Sometimes I feel sad, discouraged, sorry for myself, angry, betrayed.
And today? Some of those feelings want to creep in. Some of them loom.
And frankly, there’s a part of me that wants to let them, a part of me that wants to be down, let others see it, let the Lord see it. (Of course, He already sees it and knows it.)
I feel out of sorts and to get sorted out is a battle. It’s proclaiming, and remembering, and speaking words of life. It’s letting go of my rights, my self, offenses and slights, and very real hurts.
It’s trusting my God with my struggles when He’s the one who led me into them. He directs my steps, right?
Yet, how I respond is up to me. And right now, my feelings are taking center-stage, and they’re not good.
Yes, there’s a big part of me that wants to embrace all the negative and not care. But even in this state, I can recognize that I should care.
That’s the first step for me, isn’t it? I should care.
Lord, I should care. You give me a choice. And You’ve given me a way.
I say yes to my Lord. I give Him this apathy. And the disappointment, the sadness, the anger. I loose it to Him. And there’s my step two.
It’s all Yours, Lord.
For step three, I say God is good. Because He is, not because I feel it. He’s the giver of life. And He came so I could have life to the full.
So I follow Him. I give up all my rights, recognizing that Jesus gave up all His rights. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross and despised the shame (Hebrews 12:2).
Joy is set before me. I may despise all the hard stuff. My feelings may be quite negative over the struggle. They are. But like Jesus, I endure the cross.
I submit to my Father. I humble myself. He is God and I’m not.
Lord, I submit to You, Your wisdom, Your ways. For the joy set before me.
So today, how will I live? Where will I be at the end of this day? How will I start it?
I will endure the cross. I will despise the shame. And in the end, I will pick up that joy that’s sitting in front of me. I will walk in praise. I will keep my eyes on Jesus. I will bless the Lord.
