Day 343 - Saving Grace

"The food wasn't all that great."

Apparently the day wasn't all that great either. We went to a theme park last year that is called 'The happiest place on earth.' As I looked over the day's events it was anything but happy. There was a flat tire, disobedient children, bad food, crowds, a lost wallet and vomit on the way home. 

Have you ever had a day like that where it seemed that everything that could go wrong did? We actually planned the day for fun, happiness and family togetherness and ended up doing the opposite. 

It is funny though because the one saving grace of the day was something special. 

Remember the lost wallet? We were all so worried about it. My sister who lost it had that sick feeling. You know the one. That terrible feeling in your gut that all your personal information and access to your money is out there for anyone to steal. That feeling in the back of your mind that you will have to call every agency and bank you work with in order to stop the old cards and get new ones. It is a terrible feeling. 

We stopped and looked all around. We prayed and looked again. We asked at the lost and found and hit up every employee and trash can we could find. 

Finally on our way out they told us to look one last place. We had given up hope but thought we would try just in case. If they didn't have it that night we would call the next day.

I remember my sister walking to the counter, talking for a minute and then jumping up and down like she won the price is right. With tears in her eyes she was praising God. 

What a day. I guess it wasn't so bad after all. That one saving grace saved the day. It comes down to where you look. Will you look at everything that is wrong or look for the saving grace of God?

Have you had a day like the one I described? What was the saving grace that redeemed the day?

Day 335 - The Redeemer

"Not a bad day."

Most days when I journal and look back on the events that took place I realize that as bad as it may have seemed at the time it really wasn't that bad at all. Even a boring day without much activity has its own special graces. 

Blogging this year has shown me that after all the struggles, joys and monotony of last year God has had His hand in all of it and there never is a bad day. There are days that have bad things that happened but really the day itself is redeemed by God. 

The worst day that ever could have been was the day Jesus went to the cross. That day is remembered as Good Friday because of the redemptive power of Jesus. In the same way when God is at work in our lives the days are redeemed. The book of Romans tells us that God works all things together for good to those that love Him and who are called according to His purpose. That is you and me! 

When you know this it changes the way you view each day. I pray every night before I go to bed and always find that I open my prayer with thanks for the day that is coming to a close. I often think those words to be strange when I have had a tough day. When I think of it though I know that I really do mean it because God is up to something good. How can I not be grateful? 

As you read this I hope you are realizing how good God is and how today may be tough, good or boring, but it was not a bad day. 

How have you seen God turn bad days into good ones? How do we cultivate a heart that says thank you in tough times? 

Day 298 - You Win Some You Lose Some

"No responses to the altar call but that is okay, I won't cast away my confidence (as I preached today!)."

This day last year was quite a contrast. As I read over my day I realized that I did some things well and other things not so well. Even with all that it wasn't a loss. We still had family time despite my bad attitude at one point. Even though the altar call had no responses I read several miraculous answers to prayer in the church service. 

As I look over the past year I see that there are tough days and great days. Highs and lows and everything in-between. Life in this world is designed to bring us down. Strength is limited by age, there will always be more need than resource and we are warring with our own flesh and the spiritual host of evil we don't see. 

With all that we desperately need to realize that we should never give up. On our worst day when we have fought and lost we are still more than conquerors. When things don't turn out in our favor or we did everything right and everything went terribly wrong God is still working all things together for our good. 

Just yesterday there was a huge cyclone headed for Mexico. We got the word from one of our pastors to pray and we did! This morning my wife told me that the cyclone had downgraded overnight to be a tropical storm and even though there could be some flooding there would be no loss of lives. 

Be encouraged. God is good continually and He never changes. The circumstances good or bad while we are here on the earth are subject to change. We will have the mountaintop experiences and the valley seasons. Don't ever give up or cast away your confidence.

Have you seen days like this? What keeps you going through the tough times?

Day 263 - From Bad to Best

"We went for milkshakes at a place we heard was good. They ended up being an average milkshake but way overpriced."

I smile when I read the quote from last year. It sounds like a good review of something bad. 

Have you ever heard of something that sounded so amazing that you just couldn't wait to get a hold of it but when you finally got it you wished you hadn't wasted your time and money? That was my experience with these milkshakes. 

The wonderful thing is that an average milkshake didn't ruin my day. In fact when bad things happen that should ruin my day I still don't let them. God is too good, life is too short and Heaven too real to be crying over temporary situations and circumstances. 

God works all things together for our good. The worst of things can even produce good. Need proof of that? Just look at the cross. It was the most terrible thing that could happen. God in the flesh, crucified and dead. But the Spirit raised Jesus and it made the way of our salvation. 

If you have been having bad, or even average days, just look to the Father to see how He is going to turn it around. He will make those things work for your good. 

Have you ever spent too much on something disappointing like the milkshakes? What bad thing has God worked together for your good? 

Day 193 - Crazy Times

"It was the craziest thing."

Have you ever had a time when life was just crazy? I don't mean busy. I mean crazy. It doesn't make sense. 

We probably have all had moments that we remember where things are out of hand, you have no control or you just don't know what happened. 

I have had situations that I would define as crazy in the negative sense. As a young teen I remember our crazy neighborhood having gang initiations behind our house and shootouts across the street (that I slept through by the way). I didn't enjoy those moments. 

I have also had crazy moments that were exhilarating and even though it was hectic I loved every moment of it. We have had some crazy events at the church where things didn't add up or we were way in over our head but God came through in a major way. I would gladly have moments like that over and over. It is like an adrenaline rush. 

The neat thing about life is that no matter how crazy it gets God is still in control. We may feel like everything is out of hand but He still has the whole world in His hands! Seize the day. Crazy good or crazy bad God has you covered! 

Have you ever had a time where life was crazy? How did you make it through? (Good or bad.)

Day 108 - A 'Good' Day

"Today while I was at the grocery store I saw a worker there who is a believer. I got in his check out line as I usually do when I see him. As I was leaving after I paid I said have a blessed Good Friday. He responded that his friend had text him that it wasn't good for Jesus. I think the contrary though. 

Truly today is Good Friday. Good because it pleased the Father to carry out His plan of redemption even though it cost His Son's life. Good because Jesus had the joy that was set before Him and endured the cross. Good because saints and sinners remember what was done this day. Good because the church gathers and remembers and celebrates her King."

What a contradiction that the day that God in the flesh is crucified has been named "Good Friday". And yet the Bible is filled with statements like this that to the natural mind make no sense. You have to die to live. You must be born again. He who is first shall be last and the last shall be first. The way to life is narrow and there are few who find it and the way to destruction is wide. Many are called but few are chosen. The way up is down (humble yourself and He will lift you up). 

To our natural minds we may ask questions such as "Why would God allow suffering?" or "If God is good then why is there so much evil on the earth?" The answer is that to our natural minds these things don't make sense. But to someone who has truly experienced the power of what happened on Good Friday who now has been born again by laying down their old life in death and being raised in new life we now have a new perspective. We don't blame God for evil we blame the flesh, poor choices, and the evil one for the things going on around us. We have a new perspective on suffering too. We see it building character and causing us to walk in love and in the Spirit. 

For us, any and every situation is now under the transforming power of the resurrected Lord. He is good and makes our worst days into good days too. 

Have you experienced the power of the cross? Has your life been made new? Are you born again? If your answer is "No" click here.  

What are your thoughts on "Good Friday"? How has your life been changed from bad to good?

Day 34 - Manufactured Memories

"We all went to Disneyland for Chloe's Birthday. I was thinking about it, I don't really have memories of Disneyland. There is a lot of activity but not much happens. I think we remember more of the fights and temper tantrums and bad experiences than we do the good experiences. Maybe it is because the good experiences are manufactured by the rides and shows. Oh but I could show you the patch of concrete where my son climaxed his one hour fit that started in the restaurant. I could point out the chair under which my son's diaper overflowed. And finally I could bring you to the handrail where my daughter fell off and hurt her arm and it later resulted in a midnight ER visit."

Disneyland is the self-professed 'Happiest place on earth'. I have had lots of great days at Disneyland holding my children's hands and seeing smiles on their faces. It has been a place I can go and turn my brain off and just enjoy a nice day outside walking around the park. 

That being said I couldn't tell you specific happy moments. Just that we were happy while there. The real memories I have are the ones mentioned above. We laugh about them now but they made real impressions on us. 

The point of all this is that I think we have to work at remembering good. We have to strive to be positive. Negative comes naturally. Maybe that is why Paul told the Philippians a laundry list of things to think about that were positive. If you don't do it on purpose you won't do it at all. 

In thinking about happy experiences at Disneyland I do remember when my friend was going to propose at the castle with the fireworks going off. A friend and I drove down with no money and begged the lady at the gate to let us go and see him propose. She had mercy on us and let us in. We raced to the castle during the fireworks show and were franticly looking at everyone while they looked at the fireworks to see if it was our friend. The show ended and they started ushering everyone out of the park. We finally found a payphone (What? This was fifteen years ago!) and got ahold of our friend. He had proposed hours earlier and was eating dinner at a nearby restaurant so we met them there. That night still puts a smile on my face.

Are you like me and find it harder to remember the good than the bad? How do you keep your mind on the good?

Day 28 - Bad News

Today's thoughts come without a direct quote.

Let me set the stage for you. We are driving to a school field trip for our daughter and son and brought along our other son who isn't in school yet. On the ride there we get news...bad news. Pastor Bayless Conley, a great man of God and family friend, had been in a boating accident along with some other pastors. We didn't know what happened or what condition they were in. All we knew was it was bad. We went to prayer and then I reached out to the family to let them know we were praying and would be there in a heartbeat if they needed anything. Even though we pushed through for our children we had Pastor Bayless on our hearts the whole day.

Days like this show me how real the body of Christ is. It makes scriptures come alive when you experience the pain of someone else and bear there burdens.

Thankfully after some months of recovery we also were able to rejoice with the Conley family as Pastor Bayless healed and returned home and eventually back to the pulpit. We continue to thank God a year later for his healing.

Pastor Bayless' son Harrison (also a pastor and great man of God) wrote a blog about what he learned 8 weeks after the accident. You can find it here:
https://harrisonconley.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/8-things-i-have-learned-in-the-last-8-weeks-2/

Have you experienced something that showed you how connected the body of Christ is? How did it change your view of the scriptures and the church?