Coping with a bad day (Part I)
Friday, July 9
Coping with a bad day (Part I)
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
The method which we choose to deal with pain can vary from person to person. Some people find solace in comfort eating, some in drugs/alcohol, some pornography, some take it out on those around them and others in burying themselves in their work or hobbies. None of these, however, heal our hearts. So where do we find comfort in troubling times? God has the perfect antidote, which we will look at closer in His word. Relevant verses can be found in psalms penned by King David, who had by all accounts more than just one ‘bad day’!
Psalm 27:1 (KJV) says, ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?’ Verse 13 (GNT) says, ‘I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord..’ David despite his bad days remained hopeful that better days are ahead.
Psalm 120:1 (NLT) says, ‘I took my troubles to the LORD; I cried out to him, and he answered my prayer.’ Other versions say, ‘In my distress, I called to the Lord’. David took his troubles to the Lord, cried out and was answered. And we see the same pattern in the next psalm, which describes the Lord hearing David’s cry. ‘But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears’ (Psalm 18:6).
The message here is clear, remain firm in who God is and He (God) will take care of the rest. Sometimes, we just need to place the timing of things into His hands, still believing He will intervene and answer. Other times, we need to grieve dreams and hopes that haven’t been fulfilled and make a choice to trust God with that pain – knowing His promise in Romans 8:28 says He brings all things together for the good of those who love Him, and who are called according to His purposes. All things include the good, the bad and the ugly in our lives.
Maybe you are reading this and having a bad day, well that is okay. Keep trusting in God and He will give you pace. God knows what you are feeling and tomorrow in Part 2, we will look at more encouragement from God’s Word.
Prayer for today: Dear God, I place all my disappointments into Your hands and I thank You that I know where to look in times of distress. Help me to trust You today with my struggles and disappointments. I give them to You, In Jesus’ name. Amen.