Did you ever have one of those days? You know. The days when nothing excites you, nothing stimulates you, and you feel slightly like day old bread? In the rhythms of life we are bound to have days like that, even if we are mighty women of God, serving the unreached and the needy. Some days just refuse to shine, no matter how much we buff them with prayer and embellish them with praise.
You try everything. You pick up your Bible, either electronically or in the good old fashioned way. You look for a spark- something to ignite the fire you do not feel. Blah.You pick up your favorite, trusted devotional, turn to the date, and it misses your soul by a mile. Blah.
How about that dvd from your super-powerful home church, the one with a pastor who is only slightly less amazing than the apostle Paul? Blah.
Forsaking the usual spiritual methods, you look for a lift from your children, those marvelously bright and loving little kiddos who always bring so much joy to your life. Blah.
Then there’s hubby, the man of God. But he seems even more preoccupied with ministry matters than usual. More blah.
Is it that time of month? So soon? Nope. Just checked the calendar. Besides, that doesn’t make you feel blah. It makes you feel like ripping the head off an innocent chicken. Why can’t you ever find a chicken when you need one?
You know what I think? I think that there are days when we just get up, thank God, do our tasks, and stop obsessing about how blah we feel. This day is not (probably) the last day of your life. You will have many tomorrows, and some of them will shine.
That sounds so wrong to us; perhaps because we get the idea from reading the Bible that everyday will be a super day, filled with new and miraculous opportunities. For some of my PW sisters that might be the case. Even so, I am quite sure that many of us have stale bread days.
And remember this: the moment after you read this, the very next unsuspecting moment, your blahs could disappear. It might not take a big event to make that happen. It could come as gradually as the sun breaking through on a foggy day.
Think about the momentous events in the Bible. Mary, for instance. Do we know what kind of day that young woman was having when, suddenly, an angel- an ANGEL for crying out loud- appeared to her with news that would change her and the world forever? Angels do not care how we are feeling. The Lord of the Angel Armies says, “Go down there, to that woman, today, and tell her . . .” The angel would not dare to suggest that this was not a good day, because Mary has the blahs. Heaven does not work that way.
Psalm 37 gives us a great recipe for living every day, even the blah days:
Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. (Psalms 37:3-8, ESV)
Let’s break it down into bite-size morsels.
1. Trust in the Lord and do good. If I am trusting in the Lord and doing all the good I can, even if I do not feel excited about it, I can know I have used my blah day for his glory. They probably give gold stars for that.
2. Delight in the Lord. You do not have to pump up your emotions like you pump up a flat beach ball. Just make pleasing God your central desire for that day.
3. Commit your way to the Lord. Do you know how much you can improve your emotional state by obsessing about it? Not one bit. Instead, commit your way and your blah day to God.
4. Be still before the Lord. That word means, “Give it a rest.” Tell God how you feel. Then leave it alone and get busy doing whatever you need to do. Won’t you be surprised when your blah day becomes a glory day?
Written on a blah day by my dearest friend.
Leave a Reply