One Of Those Days
By Jerry Ousley
Have you
ever had one of those days when it didn't seem like you could
please anyone? I'm sure many of you have. I had one of those
days recently at work. I do the purchasing of raw materials and
it seems like it's either "chicken or feathers." You either have
too much stock or not nearly enough. That equal balance just
never seems to happen. But today (the first day back to work
after a vacation day I might add) nothing went right.
Immediately I was hit up because inventory was really low (my
superiors had been riding me about reducing inventory anyway).
But it was down too low. That wasn't intended. It was just that
the trucks were a little slow coming in. Now, suddenly it was
entirely my fault. I'm sure in your own job you know the drill
and can relate. It wasn't an easy day trying to keep calm and
collected. I tried but I know I wasn't very good at it. But I
did try.
Those days happen unfortunately. It can be the same spiritually.
You can rise up in the morning, determined that this day is
going to be the day that you accomplish great things for God.
The day begins with a wonderful smile on your face, you walk in
to work and your boss meets you at the door for whatever reason
and really lays it on you. You take your verbal beating and
pray, "Lord, I'm not going to let You down today."
You get to your workstation, whether it's in an office, or at a
machine, fully intending to do the best job you can do. But when
you say, "Good morning," to the person next to you they respond
with, "What's so good about it?" That's just the beginning.
As the day wears on, things continually get worse until you get
home, relieved that it's finally over, only to find that the
other car is broke down, or something has happened to one of
your kids at school. Finally you throw up your hands and
exclaim, "Where did I go wrong Lord?"
The fact of the matter is that the devil doesn't want you to
have a good day and just as sure as we determine we are going
to, he'll poke up his ugly head and try to throw everything
across your path that he can to make it go wrong. Sometimes he
is successful. We give in and wonder to ourselves, "just what IS
so good about this day?" Or we question God by saying something
like, "Lord, I was determined to make this day Your day. Why did
You let all these things happen?" BINGO! The answer is: God
allowed the devil to tempt us with all those things to show us
how strong or how weak we really are! It is an educational
experience! God allows it because He already knows what we can
and cannot take. We don't apparently know that for ourselves
until we experience it. So now we know! We either get through it
victoriously and can rejoice that we made it, or we completely
lose it somewhere in the middle and we now know what we've got
to work on.
Paul wrote, "And we know that all things work together for good
to those who love God, to those who are called according to His
purpose." (Romans 8:28 MKJV). That means that everything that
happens to us works for our good. It does not mean that God
intended all the evil that the devil throws at us to happen but
that He will take that evil of the devil and our own failures
and use them as teaching tools for us if we will allow Him to.
If we are called according to His purpose (in other words,
seeking His will for ourselves and others) then nothing is ever
a defeat for very long but turns around for our good and
betterment. You can't beat a deal like that!
So the next time your day begins to go rotten remember that the
softer fruit makes the best jams and jellies! Remember that
dried up grapes turn to raisins; coal, under pressure and with
time, turns to diamonds; and broken, crushed flowers put out the
strongest fragrance! It has a good side!
Jerry D. Ousley is the Author of three books, "Soul Challenge",
"Soul Journey" and "Ordeal." Listen to our daily broadcast
Spirit Bread. Find out more by visiting www.spiritbread.com
or email us at jousley@spiritbread.com
