Do you ever have one of those days?  One of those days where work is piling up and chores are left undone and hope seems to dwindle away?  It’s not that you’re depressed.  You’re not in a funk and you’re not really suffering in any long term capacity— but you’re still suffering.  You might just be having a bad day or a bad week or worse: a bad month, but you know that you’ll pull yourself up by the bootstraps and finish the race.

 

I get it.  I feel like I have those days often.

 

When the cashier asks me how my day’s been, and my response is a deep sigh, it’s obvious that I need a reset.  When the phone starts ringing and I just let it, I know that I am feeling emotionally taxed.  When I read Psalm 118:24 and feel tired rather than inspired, I sit back and really examine the fact that it is truly one of those days.

 

So, on “those days”, what do I do?

 

Well today, I bought a man’s groceries.  He was in line behind me, and when the cashier was almost done checking me out, I heard God’s voice asking me if I would.

 

I thought of my budget first.  I thought about being unemployed.  I thought about already spending too much this month and being afraid of what I was going to spend next month.

 

I ignored the voice and the cashier kept scanning.

 

Four items left, and I heard God again.

 

I didn’t have the money, I didn’t have the energy, and I certainly didn’t have the best attitude, but I made a decision to listen.  After all, even though I might not be able to rejoice, this man that I was about to bless might be able to.

 

“Excuse me sir,” I said to the cashier, “Can I please get his groceries too?”

 

The cashier was wearing a mask but I could tell he was smiling.  “Yeah— of course, yeah.”

 

I paid for them and silently walked away, listening as the cashier told the older gentleman what had happened.

 

As I was packing up my car, the gentleman chased me down to thank me.  All I said was, “Of course!  You’re so welcome. I just felt like God asked me to.”

 

I should have told him that it was an honor.  I should have ministered to him and asked if he knew Jesus.  I could have offered him help loading or sat and talked to him for awhile.  I could have, should have, would have done all of those things, if it wasn’t one of those days.

 

But where satan makes room for failure in my shortcomings, God rejoices in my obedience.

 

It was simple, what I did.  Truly, in the great span of life, it wasn’t life changing.  I didn’t even have the desire to change his life.  God asked, I said yes, and that man was blessed, and being blessed in any capacity is still a blessing, even when I could have offered more and I didn’t.

 

Where I could have done more, satan spoke shame.  But where I did what I did, God sang rejoicing over me.

 

That one moment made my entire day.  Hearing that man thank me rerouted my entire frame of mind.  Knowing that God chose to use me brought sweet fulfillment to my heart.

 

That one act left me feeling alive and beautiful and kind.

 

At first, I was worried about myself… I was worried about my finances and my well-being and my financial security.  But when God asked the second time, I knew that I was taken care of and the gentleman behind me should be as well.

 

Today was a good day.  It was a bad day, but one simple request re-centered my attention.  Grabbing ahold of the day for what it is had me grabbing ahold of joy and peace and rejoicing.  Another person rejoicing in the day of the Lord and the provision of His hand had me doing the same thing.

 

So rejoice in the day that the Lord has made.  Rejoice, and even when you can’t, bless someone else so that they can.  Bless someone else and receive double the portion of joy because of it.  This is the day that the Lord has made!  There are so many reasons to rejoice and be glad in it– so search them out until you find them.