So we've all had bad days. Those days when everything goes wrong, or those days when it's all going fine, until that one thing happens that ruins your whole day. Those days are never fun. But I got a glimpse this week of what David might have been feeling when he wrote the Psalms.
You see, in the Psalms, David goes through so much, but he always ends by praising God. There are some Psalms when everything is going great for him and he praises God because of it. But there are other Psalms that might reflect where you are right now. They say something to the effect of 'Life sucks, but I praise you anyways.'
Now we all know that's what we're *supposed* to do when trouble comes, but seriously, how did David do that? I know you've all asked that in your mind. Why did these people in the Bible have to be so great at this christian thing? We can't ever actually come close to all that they did, right?
Wrong. You see, I've had those bad days. Those days when I'm asking God 'why'. I'm asking Him 'where do you want me to go from here?' 'Why can't my life be more normal; less difficult.' I even had one of those days this week. But then I had a realization: our "bad" isn't really bad.
To explain, let me take you back to a certain story you all know very well.
Meet Mary. Mary is a normal teenage girl who lives with her parents. She, like many other girls her age, was betrothed. Betrothed to a young man by the name of Joseph. Such a fine young man he was, too. Mary's life wasn't especially exciting, but it was good. She would sweep out the house, wash the tunics in the river and hang them on a branch to dry, bake some bread, and work in the garden. Mary's life was normal. Predictable. Stable.
One day that all changed. She was just going about her normal chores. And then she went blind. She realized she wasn't actually blind, there was just a man in the room. A glowing man. Who hadn't been there before. She was terrified. But he didn't kill her or take her hostage or anything. He just told her something. Something so life shattering, that for a minute she almost thought that being taken hostage might have been easier. She was pregnant. With the Savior that her people had been waiting for for hundreds of years.
There was just one thing: She wasn't married yet. And you see? There's this thing about pregnancy. It can only happen one way. And if you tell people that you didn't do that thing and play the God card, saying He just "Made" you pregnant......yeah, no one's gonna believe you.
Yet Mary had to go tell her parents and her fiance knowing that they wouldn't believe her. And oh yeah, there's this other thing about pregnancy. It's kinda hard to hide.
These were all the things going through Mary's head just from one day. We celebrate this story without thinking much about it. But if this had happened to you, you would've said you'd had a bad day. Worse than that. Your world was shattered.
But this is exactly what I'm saying. Our definition of "bad" is all screwed up! Why else do we celebrate that story? Because it wasn't bad. It was a miracle. Amazing! And we praise God for working through Mary.
That was not a bad day. Why? Because God was working through each circumstance to write His story. And don't you dare say that He doesn't do the same with you! I know you've seen it. Maybe it was that time when you were a few minutes late to work, but as you drove, you saw an accident that you might have been in if you had been on time. Or maybe it was that time that your kitchen burnt down, but through that you were able to relate to your friend whose house burnt to the ground and bring her to Christ. It could've even been that time when you had less money in your wallet than you were counting on, but then the bread ended up being on sale so you had the perfect amount!
Yes, we have less than happy days sometimes. But remember this. Because next time something bad happens, remember that God works through bad. And if He's working through it, then it isn't really bad, is it?
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