I know what you may be thinking. “If you only knew how my day went, you wouldn’t be saying that.” I like to believe that I’ve had days that have had so much going wrong that it could constitute being a “bad day”. However, that’s what I’m going to talk about in this post. I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a bad day…there are only bad moments.
Before I get ahead of myself, I want you to consider this verse: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”- Proverbs 25:11.
Now, I am not a pastor nor a great theologian. But I want us to look at this verse in certain parts.
Let’s look at the beginning- “A word fitly spoken”. If you were reading this for the first time (and maybe you are), what would you think this means? For me, it has the idea of a word, a comment or an encouragement said at just the right time. Have you ever had a really rough time and then all of a sudden you check your mail and BAM, there’s a card from a friend you haven’t heard from in forever reminding you that they are praying for you and thinking about you? Or maybe, you head into church one Sunday. On the entryway table, is a card and a piece of chocolate addressed to you, stealthily unsigned? How would you say these moments made you feel? I’d say they made you feel like the rest of this verse says.
What do you do with an apple? Why, you eat it of course! And how does the apple make you feel? Some words I’ve received are – full, satisfied, refreshed, pleased, and relaxed. Now tie that with words fitly spoken. Words said, read, or thought at just the right time are meant to make you feel full, satisfied, and refreshed. Apples of gold in pictures (or settings) of silver are meant to show their value. Words said at the right time are priceless treasures that satisfy a hungry heart.
What does this all have to do with bad days? Well, as I mentioned before, it’s only bad moments. But even deeper than that, it’s what we think or focus on during those moments. When something goes wrong, what is your first response? Is it to internalize and get angry? Do you allow your thoughts of frustration and bitterness to overwhelm you and control your actions? Or do you think about the blessings of God? The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”. Even in the bad moments. Look back at those “bad days”. Were they really bad days? Or were they simply a series of bad moments that you allowed yourself to get caught up in?
When I taught this to my students, I used the example of water. What happens to the water when you take a spoon and stir it around the cup? Well…it spins around the cup because the spoon is stirring the water. And what happens if you take the spoon out of the stirred cup? Eventually, the water stops swirling and returns to the state of calm it’s meant to be in.
The same goes for your day. Your day is the water. The bad moment is the spoon. Inevitably, someone will take the spoon and stir the water. But it’s up to you to take the spoon out of the water. Focus on the blessings in your life. Look for what God is doing at the moment. Remember previous encouragement from others. Read the Bible. Pray your emotions out to God. Stop stirring the water. Focus on God, and let him be the sunshine in your day.
What do you think of when you hear that verse? What gets you through those bad moments? Id love to hear from you! Please reach out to me directly or comment below!
penlightenment.quest 