We have all had them....one of those days. One of those days where mount laundry has grown to exponential proportions, there is no get up and go to be found, and life...well it's just that life. Kids don't want to listen, or perhaps there was a misunderstanding between you and your beloved. Or maybe a misunderstanding between, yourself and a friend. The list of possibilities as to the reason behind the "one of those days", is, well endless. It could be one of them, or a bunch of them. Sometimes, it is through no fault of our own. Other times, it is a mixture. Still, other times, it is a heap of junk we brought on ourselves. On "one of those days"....we tend to wallow. Gather up our miseries in a little heap, invite some grumbling and complaining to the party and add in a good old cup of not fair ,with a side of pout. Come on, admit it. We ALL do it and have done it. It isn't new under the sun. David did a heap of it. The children of Israel, they did it to the extreme, to the point of building themselves a golden calf because they were so "poor me, God doesn't love us and Moses has forgotten us".
Even, when God has proved Himself, over and over and over again...yep, we do it.
Why?
Simply, because faith and trust during the hard times or the frustrating times isn't as fun and easy as the times we are leaping in victory. When we are high on the mountain top, faith is easy. But it is in the valleys and the hard times, faith grows the most. The deep richness of the soil in the valley comes from shed tears and times spent on our knees crying out because of our desperate hearts that need Jesus. It is the valley where we get rid of the junk that needs to come out and it falls to the soil in decay. And from the decay, He takes out of us, grows faith. He said he would make beauty from ashes. Is this perfect theology, probably not. But, to get some new life in our hearts, we have to get rid of the junk. He takes it out but He uses it and turns it good by growing us OUT of the decay that was once there. Out of that blossoms great beauty. it is when we are on our knees, crying out to our God, that we can grow the most.
It is those days...days of testing and trial we learn to lean on Him. It is out of those days, when there seems to be no answer and doing what God wants you to do is the hardest. It is those days, that trust in our Lord is sometimes, just putting one foot in front of the other, falling to our knees and then getting up again..to put one front in front of the other as we push our way through. Some valleys, are filled with beauty. Some valleys, or filled with brambles, sand, or mud. The Lord knows the valley you are in. He has equipped us all with the tools to get through the hard valleys to a place of oasis or the beauty of a mountain top. Getting there..is the hard part. Sometimes, quite frankly, you get scratched up and hurt in the process. It isn't because God doesn't care...it isn't because He isn't with you. It is because sometimes He does speak peace be still. But sometimes, He wants us to take authority, the authority He has given and speak to the moutntain. Yet, we too often want Him to fix it all without any of the work, or the prayer, fear (awe of Him not fear as in afraid) and trembling. He wants us to grow into strong warriors. He does not want to have a family of babies and little kids. He COULD step in and solve it all. Sometimes, He does. BUT......He truly wants us to walk as the mighty warriors we are equipped to be. He said greater things we would do in His name. Yet, we wait...wait for others or Him to do it. We struggle in the valley because we forget the source of our strength. We look at the surrounding and say "I can't". When Jesus is saying YES YOU CAN. Because His blood, the stripes upon His back, His suffering enabled us. He alone is our source.
I am talking to myself as well here. I am tired of letting myself get to pity party stage before I see that the answer was there all along. I want to walk strong and mighty and in the power God gave me as HIS child. I want to be able to speak to that mountain and say be moved.I want HIS power in my life to do HIS will.
So on those days, I am commiting myself to pray through and in the valley. I will speak to the issues and know my God.......my God can handle it, but He also wants me to pray and have faith that He is growing me up. He is building me in faith and power and I too can speak to the mountain and that mountain WILL move. We aren't supposed to be weak and wimpy. We are supposed to be mighty and powerful through HIS NAME.
So take one of "those days" and turn it to HIS DAY.
