Think about your day today. What was it like? Was it a good day or a difficult day? Was it a busy day?
It seems like busy days are common for all of us. Sometimes I am so busy that I don’t have time to appreciate the fact that each day is a blessing that comes from God. I don’t think that is good.
Psalm 118:24 speaks wisdom about how we are to approach each day. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” (NIV) What would happen if we pushed past the busyness of our everyday lives and started seeing each day as an opportunity to rejoice and be glad?
It doesn’t matter who you are because it’s easy for all people to become consumed and overwhelmed by our everyday responsibilities. There are deadlines to meet at work. There are meals to prepare for your family. There are appointments, meetings, ball games, concerts, and competitions that we feel we need to attend.
Let’s not forget the volunteer work like teaching a mid-week class or Sunday school, being a 4-H leader, helping at Atlas or the food pantry. There are a number of things we can be involved in that serve our broader community, and these are good things. At the same time, they add responsibility and work load to our already busy lives. Sometimes we grow weary even in doing good, and in the process we find ourselves struggling to rejoice and be glad.
Let’s not forget the painful struggles we face like a loved one dying, health problems, strained relationships, money problems, addiction, and the list never seems to end. So many things can happen in our lives that make us hurt and cause us to feel like rejoicing and being glad is just a fairytale.
This is why it is so important for us to impress Psalm 118:24 on to our hearts. We have to be reminded; God did not create today for misery. God did not create today for us to be crabby. God did not create today for us to be at war. God did not create today for us to sin. God created today for something greater … joy!
We may still be wondering how. How can we rejoice and be glad in the midst of all the bad, all the hurt and all the busyness?
God made a way for joy to return to those embattled by suffering and sin. God loves us so much that he sent his Son into this world to save us from misery and death. Jesus, the Son of God, became flesh and dwelt among us. He took on the very nature of a servant, dying on the cross and rising again, so that we might be set free from the misery of sin.
Jesus invites us to begin to live a new life today and promises us an eternal home where there is no more mourning or crying or pain.
