This is the day

The above verse is from Psalms. I have said this verse literally thousands of times. It is very important to me, as it got me through some very hard years. I recall waking up some mornings, my body full of pain, not much to look forward to, and grabbing onto this verse with all my might.

Let's face it, I don't have a whole lot going for me even now. I squandered most of my gifts. I wasted time, money, talent, chances, and garnered a whole lot of trouble. I believe we should take responsibility for our actions, and I have done that. However, I was also programmed through an abusive childhood to choose the life I did. But that's not my point.

My point is, every day is a gift from God. Every moment — even the unbearable — is an opportunity. Many times I have prayed relentlessly for something to change. Long after the point of despair that nothing would ever change, God changed everything so quickly it made my head spin. When God moves, sometimes it happens all at once. The next day you wake up and wonder why you ever thought God wasn't going to move. 

When I get home someday, I'll know why God didn't move when I thought I was ready — or beyond ready — but in the meantime, I can only wonder. I keep waking up and grabbing onto the fact that today is the day God has made, and all I can do is rejoice and be glad in it. We are often sold on a destination, but God wants us to know every day is created by Him, not just the ones that take us where we want to go. Every day is a gift. Every day has something to teach us.

What is He saying to me today? As of this writing, I'm sick for the second day. Yesterday, I could barely move. Every square inch of my body hurt, even my scalp, even my toes, and everything in between, even my testicles. It's hard to praise God when you feel you'd rather die. Still, I did. I thanked God for that day. I thanked Him I didn't have to try to go to work, too (there was literally no way I could). And I spent time with Him in prayer and in the Word as I always do. 

Even though I was sick, I knew God made that day. What I do with that time is up to me (yes, we all have to work, make food, clean our houses, do other chores), and I choose to draw close to God every day. That relationship is the one that has never let me down. When I was on a death dash to destruction, God intervened and saved my life. And then He changed me. Today, I am a different man. Yet I still need Him, and I still choose to rejoice in every day. 

God has a purpose for my life. I feel now is the time it is being fulfilled. I pray many times daily for my nation and the nations of the world. The devil has his plans, but God can change anything. And in a moment. I pray for those around me. I pray for those I barely know and some I've never met. Prayer, which looks like foolishness to the world, moves the hand of God. Though my life — and the world — is a disaster, I won't hesitate to thank God and praise Him for every day. We may sometimes think we have nothing to thank God for, but life itself is a gift, and Christians have so much more than a few years on planet Earth. 

Through the last few years, I avoided sure destruction and instead found the fruits of the spirit growing in me as well as a new hope. That is a miracle. My new life has begun. I'll probably look back at this time a year from now and wonder in awe at what God has done. And, no doubt, I will be glad for the day He has given me. There will be backslidings and missteps, but through it all, God is faithful. I pray I am faithful, too.

Thank you for reading, and God bless.