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On a good day, enjoy yourself; On a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days So that we won’t take anything for granted (Ecclesiastes 7:14, MSG).
We all have bad days. I write Interruptions so you can have good days.
I confess that I have bad days, and sometimes I string a few of them together. There are many reasons we have bad days. This morning my computer wasn’t functioning correctly. Frustration in the morning with any technology could jumpstart a bad day for anyone.
Screaming children, car problems, an irritable boss, and Starbucks® getting your coffee order wrong can cause a bad day. We even have “Murphy’s Law” that states, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong and at the worst possible time.”
It seems we can’t avoid bad days.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 indicates that God arranges both our bad and good days. He allows the bad and the good so that we won’t take anything for granted so that we think and contemplate about what causes good and bad days.
What causes our bad days, and how can we deal with them? A few suggestions . . .
- Embrace bad days. Don’t deny or avoid them, but as the book of James teaches, “Consider it all joy!” (James 1:2, NASB1995). Bad days reveal our inadequacies or give us endurance for future difficulties.
- Have a goal. Paul writes in Romans 5:5, “Hope does not disappoint.” If we have a goal or a calling from God, then we can expect difficult days as we try to reach the objective. The goal makes the problems worth it.
- Rejoice as a mindset. Philippians 4:4 has the best advice ever written for a bad day, “Rejoice in the Lord always!” Our brain remembers bad things better than good things. We need to overwrite negative attitudes by praising God for everything.
We will experience more peace if we develop a discipline of stopping several times during a bad day (or any day) and listing four things of thanksgiving.
- Have a good friend. Emotionally we have an inherent need to share our deepest and sometimes darkest thoughts with someone who loves us unconditionally. A friend doesn’t always agree, but we know they will listen with compassion and not condemnation.
That’s it. Four ways to avoid or deal with a bad day.
Brain science now says society produces so much stimulation that our brains are often depleted of the needed nutrients to maintain thoughts of balance and perspective.
Then we react negatively to everyone. And yes, I have days like this too.
When I get overwhelmed and know a series of bad days will result, I understand the need to get away and review my four suggestions for making a bad day better — embrace, goals, mindset, and friendship.
By God’s grace, the next time that you see me, I will be having a good day.