“This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24

As I rolled toward my nightstand, slapped the alarm off, grabbed my phone, and squinted my eyes open, this was the verse-of-the-day staring back at me.   A few minutes later I sat down with a latte, opened my bible, and read my devotions for the day, where the theme continued,

“It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night…”

“For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep!”

Psalm 92:1-2, Psalm 92:4-5

The subject of rejoicing and thankfulness continued as I read through Spurgeon’s morning devotional. God was clearly driving home his will for my day. I was off to a great start. It was going to be a really good day…

Reality

Then the day began… I looked at my email, prioritized my task list, and got to work, expecting a joy-filled day of serving the Lord with all my might… But by 10 am, I had made little progress. I was still working on my first task. New problems were coming in and my task list was expanding. The pressure was on… I needed to pick up the pace. After all, people were depending on me. Then around noon I received an email informing me someone was stepping down from ministry. They were leaving the church. I didn’t know how to fix this problem either. By 3 pm I was back to spinning my wheels on a task that should have been done by noon.

That’s when an unsuspecting brother approached me for some technical help. He was caught completely unaware of my inner turmoil. He could hardly get the words out before I lashed out at him for not being able to handle his problem without my help. A few minutes later, after he apologized, I discovered his dilemma was a result of my own work from a previous day. I had made his simple task of putting files on the church server literally impossible to do. Ah… Another problem to fix. A few hours later, as I rushed to close all the windows at church so I could get to a counseling appointment, I slammed my fingers in a window and explicitly mouthed out a profanity… I don’t think it was out loud. I hoped not. There were people outside below the window. After all, I’m a Christian, right?

Reflection

What happened? How can someone start the day so well… and end it in such a mess? Have you ever had that happen to you? Have you ever asked the question, “How did this happen?” at the end of a bad day? It is at the end of days like these that my mind recalls Jesus’ words,

“The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Matthew 26:41

The Apostle Paul aptly puts it this way,

“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing…”

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Romans 7:18-19, 24

Have you ever echoed these words of Paul, loathing your own wretchedness? Sometimes we come to find that no matter the grandeur of spiritual influence we receive, our flesh remains just as wicked and wretched as it ever has been and ever could be. Even if we begin the day ‘in the Spirit’, we cannot expect any forthcoming good under the power and confidence of our flesh… no matter how good our intentions might be…Only God is good. We are not… We never will be… We never can be… at least in our flesh. Our only good is in crucifying our flesh and surrendering to God’s Spirit. Life has a way of showing us that… sooner or later… and often many times over.

“For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh…”

Philippians 3:3

Again I Say Rejoice

Where do we go spiritually at the end of a day like this? Do we raise the white flag in defeat, slink into our bed, cover our face in self-pity, and enter into a state of non-existence? Perhaps… Maybe that’s the best recourse. To count it all as refuse, right? We may end our days in discouragement and defeat. We may feel we have forfeited the race… or even been disqualified. But the next morning we roll over, slap at the alarm, wipe the sleep from our eyes, and start another day…

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3:22-23

We then sit down in our favorite chair, take a sip of coffee, crack open our bibles to read,

“For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage…”

“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”

Psalm 94:14, Psalm 95:1-2

It’s hard to believe. For some strange reason of grace, God has given us a do-over. God has granted us yet another day… that we might learn what it means to rejoice and be glad in it. Though we had failed God, God has not failed us. Maybe this day we will find an even greater reason to rejoice, than the day before… Perhaps this time around we will have more appreciation, for the source of our joy. Maybe today we will be a bit wiser, in surrendering to the Spirit… and a bit more wary, of placing any confidence in our flesh. We have an opportunity to rejoice… again.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

Philippians 4:4