When you called our house phone when my girls were little you heard Sarah singing, "This is the day." She sang the whole chorus, "This is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice. I will rejoice and be glad in it!" I would check my messages and often times someone would say how much they loved that message and it had made their day. And by the way it was a wrong number. Some people sang back to us on the machine! Some said they were going to call back when they were having a rough day! We kept that message until a little boy from school had heard it and made fun of Sarah.
I thought of this when I was having a hard day. Just a lot going on and I was tired which is something I do not say often. I know God brought this memory to mind because it says, "I WILL be glad in it." I thought about it before I went to bed but I think I just needed to have an all day pity party and then choose joy! I was reminded again in church when praying I heard, "we WILL rejoice and be glad in it." It does not say we will try to rejoice. It says, we WILL. We have a choice to make.
This song was based on Psalm 118: 24, "The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad." King David wrote this psalm because even though he had a life with many ups and downs he believed that every day is an opportunity to praise God. He believed God was good every day and so that made every day good. This means that even if we are burying a loved one, watching a child suffer, facing a difficult diagnosis, losing a job, losing a home, ending a marriage, parents grieving, a struggle with sin is lost, etc we are to rejoice in this day. Why?
No matter how bad things get, the LORD is still giving us another day. He loves us and is providing for us. God is in charge and knows what He is doing. He wants what is best for us.
He knows the true desires of our hearts. He knows more about us than we know ourselves.
When we rejoice and are glad in a day that is not what we wanted we are telling God that we trust Him. We know that He will take care of us. We can know we are learning patience and growing closer in our relationship to Christ. We are reminded of Romans 8: 28, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." He will turn these burdens into blessings if we let Him! This is why we give Him the glory for the day He has made!
Do you believe, like King David, that God is good every day and so that makes every day good? Will you thank God for today and trust Him even if you are going through a tough time?
Every morning I wake up that is the way I start my day but I don't sing it like Sarah did :)