THIS Is the Day
- Caitlin Barbee
- Nov 28, 2024
- 3 min read
“The Lord Himself made our days, not some unknown, unloving being who wants to set us up for failure.”
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (ESV)
I’ve been reading through the book of Psalms lately and I love how each psalm is so different. Different authors, different situations; a pastor I like to listen to says that there is a psalm for every “sigh.” In their simplest form, each one is just a song of feelings, some more polished than others. Not sure about you, but I often feel like a ball of unpolished feelings when I come before the Lord, and some days, it is just.not.pretty.
And yet the psalms are still part of God’s perfect word for our lives because at the beginning and the end of every one I have read so far, the writer reminds us that no matter our circumstances, we are not alone in them. The Lord Himself made our days, not some unknown, unloving being who wants to set us up for failure. On the contrary, we are encouraged to “rejoice” and “be glad” in each of the days He so graciously gives us. Rejoice isn’t a word we hear a lot today, but it literally means “a call to joy.” So much so that during Jesus’ time, “Rejoice!” was often used as a salutation in place of our “Hello!”
The key to biblical rejoicing, however, is the next part: it has to be done in the Lord. There is otherwise no way that us moms can rejoice over the long list of things we have yet to do, or the fact that our house is a mess AGAIN. Our humanness will inevitably take over, and the complaints and grumblings start feeding off of themselves like a sourdough bread starter.
Before we know it, we’ve locked ourselves in our bathroom, crying about how we got here. Now should this still happen to you yet today, (or any day between now and Christmas, when mom expectations are at their highest), I encourage you to picture Jesus coming in to you, grabbing your hands and gently pulling you up, then lovingly reminding you that THIS is exactly the day He had planned for you, with all of its messiness and all of your feelings about it.
So before you get into whatever today entails, consider this your call to joy. We can and should rejoice as we have a Savior that knows ALL this day brings and is willing to step into it with us. That is great news, amen?!
Action Steps:
Read all of Psalm 118 and note what statement bookends the chapter: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!” Take the time to give Him thanks for His steadfast love that is different than any other love we know. That is truth worth rejoicing over!
Listen to “Sure Been Good” by Elevation Worship and worship along, knowing to do so makes Him the priority of your day!
Prayer: Father God, what a beautiful thought that You have made our days for us. They are not random, nor can we control them the way we like to think we can. You are the Author of our lives, so help us to simply rest in this truth. May our homes be filled with praise and thanksgiving and let our voices be the loudest among the worshippers. Thank You for this day that You have made. We love You. Amen.
Written by Caitlin, thankful mom of 2