"This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!" Psalm 118:24 is one of my favorite verses. It is an invitation (I would even go so far as to say that it is a command!) to be present and to give thanks to God in all circumstances because, spoiler alert: God is good! God is faithful! And God is right here in the present, in this day that He made, with me, and with you. If that doesn't give us something to celebrate, I don't know what does!
Of course, in the overwhelmingly good, sweet seasons of life it's easy to rejoice. And I am fortunate enough to say that I have had many good, sweet seasons. But I've also had some hard ones. In hard seasons, it's human nature to find some way to distract ourselves, or hide from the painful things, or at least just some way to cope with it all. I know I struggle with wanting to run away-- when things get messy or complicated or painful, I look for the closest exit sign. I did it all the time when I was little, I had my secret hiding places I would go to hide from hurt. It was usually just a tree to climb up or a closet to huddle in. As an adult, it's a bit more extreme. I have wanted, more times than I can count, to run away from everything, move to the Scottish Highlands (even when I'm not wanting to run away though, I'd totally want to live in the Scottish Highlands;) and become a shepherd hermit. But God has been reminding me that He wants me to live fully right now. The truth is, He didn't create me to be a shepherd hermit or to run away. He created me to bring Him glory and to give Him praise, even when my current reality isn't even close to perfect. And the thing about waking up in a hard season and immediately thanking the Lord for the day that He has made and rejoicing in it, is that it's an act of rebellion. Not rebellion toward Him, but rather rebellion against the enemy and his intentions to rid us of our joy and peace. We are easy prey when we are not fully present. When we are living in our imaginary worlds inside our heads and totally distracted, how will we have the strength to fight the lies and attacks of the evil one? I know very well how vulnerable I am when I am distracted and not living in the present with Jesus. And because of this, I have been trying to practice starting my day by immediately thanking the Lord for it. Before I reach for my phone or even get out of bed, I simply quote Psalm 118:24. I then make it more specific to my current circumstance, for example: "This day, Thursday, October 15, here in La Venta Honduras, is the day that the Lord has made and designed for me. I will trust Him with it and rejoice in His goodness this day." Honestly, it shifts my perspective and my attitude for the day. I go into it with more anticipation of what God has prepared for me and how I can take joy in His presence. It helps me to recognize that I didn't design this day, that I have no way to really control everything that will happen, and that the only way to truly live my life to the full today is by handing it to God and doing my best to walk in humility and obedience. Disclaimer: I am so far from being where I want to be in this. There are lots of days I forget to do this and instead I check my phone or start the tasks of the day before spending time with the Lord. There are days when I seem to forget that God really is the One who created each day and that He has all authority over them, and instead I try to take control and take on the day in my own strength. And there are days when I consciously choose to try to imagine myself into a different situation and reject what God is offering to me this day. But by God's grace, He's growing me in it. He's teaching me how to accept my current reality and entrust it to Him so that I'm free to do what He would have me do each day.
So friends, let's practice rejoicing in the Lord and the days that He's created each and every day. Let's rebel against the enemy and rid him of any opportunity to attack us as a distracted people. Let's practice accepting with gladness and grace our current reality, whatever that may look like. And let's practice walking in obedience and humility with Jesus daily. Micah 6:8 says: "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"
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