Using A Bad Day To Get Stronger


Ever have a bad day?
Sure you have.
Car won't start...spilled coffee on your shirt...running late and your kids can't find their shoes...can't find your keys? Those days happen.

David had a worse day. You've had a worse day before also.

David lived on the run for some time when Saul wanted to kill him. He puts together what amounts to the A-Team of his day. If you don't know what the A-Team is you'll have to look them up. He ends up working for the Philistines, but then they fire him. Although he was loyal some folks didn't trust him after that whole Goliath thing. He heads back home with his men to their families but when they arrive at Ziklag they encounter horror.

"When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive." 
I Samuel 30:3

That's not a "bad day." That's a "worse day."

Then it got worse.

"David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters."
I Samuel 30:6

Falsely accused. Lied about by other leaders. Fired. Family kidnapped. Home burned to the ground. His own men are talking of killing him.

That's a "worse day."
What did David do?

"But David found strength in the Lord his God." 
I Samuel 30:6

Life is going to throw some brutal twists and turns your way. Sometimes no one is going to have what you need to get through, because what you need is supernatural. In those moments you're going to have to strengthen yourself in the Lord your God.

How will you do that?

  1. Get into God's presence

"I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips." Psalm 34:1

From the ashes praise arose. Wherever David was praise always arose. When you're having a "worse day," it's time to worship and get yourself into the presence of God.

  1. Remind yourself of what God says about you.
"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

When someone walks out on you...
When your employer lets you go...
When your performance doesn't measure up...
When people lie about you, and berate you behind your back...
You better be prepared to remind yourself of what God says is true about you. It will strengthen you.

Then remember,
  1. You're Contagious
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."
I Thessalonians 5:11

Bad days stink, but you can get through those on your own.
On worse days you're going to have to strengthen yourself in the Lord. 

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
Isaiah 40:31

Following the Son,
James A Williams



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Get The Rebound

Image
If you've ever played or watched basketball you know that rebounding is a huge part of the game. If you're unfamiliar with the sport rebounding is quite simply getting the ball when a shot is missed. You can't score without the ball which makes the play of great importance. It's not unusual for a team with a higher shooting percentage to lose a basketball game because they were out rebounded. On the court what you do when you miss can be even more important than making shots. It's true in life as well. Everyone misses shots, but that doesn't mean you've lost the game. Get the rebound. "For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again." Proverbs 24:16. People won't always give you the chance to rise again. For some your shortcoming is how they'll label you forever. Get the rebound anyway.  It was the historian Froude who wrote, "The worth of a man must be measured by his life, not by his failure under a singular a...
Read more

What’s In Your Cart?

Image
On this day in 1939, Sylvan Goldman who owned the Humpty Dumpty supermarket chain got an idea. He was trying to think of a way for his customers to transport more groceries around his stores. He attached 4 wheels to the legs of a wooden folding chair, and then attached a basket to the seat. The shopping cart was born.  Before this shopping trips to the Humpty Dumpty or the Piggly Wiggly would be limited to what you could carry in your arms. I wonder if Sylvan’s original patent stated that one of the wheels was to either not spin or rapidly shake back and forth? It’s possible that this is some modern improvement on his original design. However it happened the carts keep getting bigger. When I bring my groceries to the check out counter I sometimes use the self check out. I don’t like the self checkout because the computer keeps telling me I put things in the bagging area when I didn’t. When I get a real person they will often ask this profound question. “Did you find ev...
Read more

Mercy

Image
We visited our nephew and his family last weekend. They have three boys, and witnessing their interactions brought back memories of both fun and difficult days of raising our boys. Sometimes when my boys were young I felt like all I did was discipline them. It seemed at times like we couldn't make it through a meal, homework, or even play time, without a fight breaking out, some inappropriate comment, backtalk, or a hundred other random things they could find to do to push their Mother and I over the line. I remember calmly saying things like, "I need for you to understand that I can feel anger welling up within me."  Sometimes this would result in corrected behavior, other times they would look at me as though I were speaking Chinese (I know this isn't actually a language, please don't write me a letter). I realize spanking children is controversial, so I tried not to spank my sons over 3 or 4 times a day (That's called hyperbole). On one occ...
Read more