Are You Having a Good Day?

I sure hope you are!  Having a good day that is.

Have you ever sat in a church service and been listening to your pastor's sermon and frantically taking notes, when all of a sudden he says something that just floors you?  Well, that happened to me yesterday morning!  The funny thing about this is that the point that made me stop in my tracks wasn't even one of the "main" points of the sermon.  However, in God's sweet transforming grace to me, He had my pastor share this point JUST FOR ME!

Hal, my pastor, has been preaching through the book of Ephesians.  Yesterday morning, he was in chapter 4 and exhorting us from verse 12.  I'll give you verses 11 and 12 to get the context:

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up."

Hal was making the point that the immediate purpose of Christ's gifts of pastors and teachers is to equip the saints for the work of ministry.  He went on to say that pastors have a "repairing" ministry.  In the context of that discussion, Hal said some things about what it really meant for someone to have a good day.

AND THAT'S WHAT GOT ME!

I won't put it in a direct quote, because I don't remember exactly how pastor worded it, but this is what the Holy Spirit ministered to me:

We think that "having a good day" means we have not had ANY problems during the day.  Everything has gone smoothly and without trial.  However, a good day is one FULL of problems along the way.  What makes it a good day is that we have chosen to trust the Lord and lean on Him at every point.  We have NOT given into the difficulty, but have risen to the occasion in the power of Christ and taken the gospel and used that very trial to glorify God.

So, for me that means that a good day may be one full of:

• leaking sippy cups and spilled messes, but in God's grace I clean and wipe up with patience, serving my little ones with joy
• children misbehaving and not getting along, but in God's grace I choose to stay calm and use those moments to gently guide and shape the hearts of my children to understand God's love and desires for them
• the checkbook not balancing, but again in God's grace I choose to trust Him to be Jehovah Jireh, the God Who Provides, and not give in to worry
• tension and disagreement with the husband, but in God's grace I choose to submit to his leadership in our family and look past his faults as he surely looks past mine

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:  Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him."
Lamentations 3:21-24

Praying you have a GOOD day,