Can I be real with you?
Today has not gone as planned … at all. We had a delayed start in our day and missed our morning devotion together. Then, we received news we didn’t care to hear. There were sour faces, foul attitudes, and hard conversations to navigate through … all before noon!
Honestly, I was not happy. In fact, I was ready to just call the day over and tell everyone to crawl under the covers in hopes that we would each have a reset.
But I felt prompted to pause our day and have devotion instead. I found myself in tears as I read about the missionary David Livingstone. He had to overcome numerous obstacles in order for the gospel to be shared with the people in Africa.
In one specific incident, he encountered villagers who were fearful of the lions devouring their cattle. Livingstone set out to scare off the lions and instead found himself being viciously attacked by one. He was left so badly injured that he could not work on his building project. Yet, Livingstone praised and thanked God for saving him from great danger.
Based on the day we were having, my initial response was that I would have been discouraged if I was David Livingstone, to the point where I may have felt tempted to just throw in the towel.
But as I reflected on God’s goodness, the posture of my heart shifted toward gratitude. I was reminded of Romans 8:28 (NLT): “… we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” And I wasn’t so grumpy anymore.
When we read the Bible, we see that the shepherd boy turned king, David was no stranger to difficult circumstances. In fact, many chapters in the book of Psalms highlight the struggles he endured as he ran and hid from enemies. In Psalm 13:2, David cried out: “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?”
Yet, there are countless words of praise and thanksgiving we read from him in Psalms. This same chapter is concluded in verses 5-6 with David declaring: “… I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for He has been good to me.”
Dear Friend, if you ever have a day like mine, I pray that gratitude and praise would turn your day from defeated and discouraged to hopeful and encouraged. God is in the details and He loves you very much.
~Joyce
Photo Credit: Alora Griffiths on Unsplash
