“This is the day the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
~Psalm 118:24 (NIV).
Ever had one of those days where you slept in and then realised, with a waking gasp, it was Monday... and then you cavort, the mind shrieks, “oh, no, not this again,” as there’s the distinct note of warranting escape, even temporarily, from life?
I think we all have them. Indeed, that’s exactly what inspires this article.
Perhaps it’s just a chance to take stock and stop the pressure, just for one day.
I did this recently. As I arose and realised I was already behind time, instead of panicking, I simply and calmly went about my normal routine without getting into a fear-ridden fluster.
A Decision
I decided to be late this day. After all, I’m rarely late. I decided I was going to ‘wear’ any undesirable feedback. And do you know what? None came. Everyone else was so totally preoccupied in their own worlds they didn’t care as I rejected my own—just for this one morning.
Against the flow of fear I decided for peace. I thought, “If peace is possible it is mine today.” I chose for it!
This mightn’t be easy some days—but the day I tried it my will was tenacious enough to conquer the fear. I just did it.
Anxiety, too, held no part of or over my day. Why fear something we do not know? You might sceptically think I’m not being realistic—and some anxiety is totally irreconcilable—but I defeated it anyway. I’m not saying disorders of anxiety are wrong or untrue for they are very real. They just didn’t take hold this day; I wouldn’t let them!
Just How? – Again, a Decision
I decided that even though I wasn’t going to take the day off, it was going to be my day in any event. And it was. It was so wonderfully my day; in peace I trudged—not perfectly—not swimmingly—not joyously—but I did command peace over my life for this whole day in the name of my God.
This God’s name is Jesus. He transcends my own understanding in this peace of his—the peace of his Holy Spirit (Philippians 4:6-7). I cannot even explain it such is its smooth, heavenly Spirituality.
Faith, Simply Faith!
Faith is behind this, of course. It’s a faith that agrees with the verse at top. Any day, if it is God’s day, is also our day—if we choose it so. Our day, again, doesn’t need to be perfect for us to know God’s peace. This wonderful peace is possible even in the harshest turmoil.
It’s usually the simple matter of allowing the Spirit to conform our thinking back to God’s desire for our mood and disposition. We can very easily think ourselves into peace and happiness. Our surrender to God’s Spirit is mandatory for it to work.
The more we try this the better we get at it; day by day, year by year, things just get better and better as we cooperate more and more with this astonishing Spirit of God!
© 2010 S. J. Wickham.
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