“Today is the day.”
Today is the day I woke up with a firm decision … A decision to rejoice and not give in to negative thoughts.
What was I missing?
Yesterday I had a bit of an emotional day. My physical illness goes up and down; I have good days and bad days. I’d felt good for a long time, but then all of a sudden I felt bad again. Daily tasks take what seems like double the amount of time or more, and some I can’t even do. So yesterday I had a fear that I will not have better days again and that tasks will always be hard for me. I felt useless and that I had no purpose.
So I prayed that I could be thankful and that God could help me to just be happy. He gave me strength to get through the rest of the day, which He always does when I pray. But I still felt depressed. What was I missing?
I woke up in the middle of the night, as I usually do, but this time I prayed really hard that God would give me a verse that would really help me, because I wanted to be completely free from being ruled by my emotions. I was sick and tired of it! I wanted Satan to stop putting negative thoughts in my head and I wanted to stop relying on my own strength because I knew that things end badly that way! I also told Him that I wanted to put all my trust in Him, not just in part, but 100%.
A verse from God
And then God gave me this verse: “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.” Philippians 3:1 (ESV).
This verse filled me with happiness. Now I see that there is hope for me. What does it mean to rejoice in the Lord? It means to believe and to have peace inside because I know that He will do a work in me and that I can trust in Him that everything is for my best. That is what brings me great joy! So I promised God today that I will rejoice in Him and trust in Him.
I have a great opportunity here. I am actually very lucky! It is heavy and tiring to worry about tomorrow or feel sorry for myself or feel useless. I feel that God has lifted a weight off my shoulders. He has reminded me that listening to Him and trusting in Him is safe. This is what I call peace. And that is my purpose in life.
My purpose in life
It doesn’t matter what I get done in my everyday situations. If things take much longer to do, that’s OK. I’m not taking my house with me to heaven (clean or not) or my perfectly folded laundry. None of this matters. What matters is that I can always hold fast to Jesus and that I can be made perfect just like Him!
My purpose is that He wants me right there beside Him one day and all I have to do is listen to Him and follow Him. I have to use these daily situations to find the things in myself that are not pleasing to God and overcome them. That is the whole point! If in these situations I learn peace, rest, patience, longsuffering, etc., then I have achieved exactly what God wanted me to achieve in my day! And this makes me very happy, not only for myself, but my family also gets to see the joy in me.
Another verse that has been a comfort to me is, “I thank you because I am awesomely made, wonderfully; your works are wonders -I know this very well.” Psalm 139:14 (CJB). God has made no mistake and made me exactly this way, so that He can do the work in me that needs to be done. These situations are made perfectly for me so I can change and become like Christ. He really loves me.
And when I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t sleep, I can use that time to be with my God, and it becomes a very special time. I can pray and I can read in His Word and be really built up in my spirit. He really is my Best Friend.
“This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24. Today is the day for me. The start of days where I can really rejoice because no one loves me like my dear God and my dear Jesus!