It's a Bad Day!

 by Lillian Humphries

Did you ever have one of those days? You know the kind, where you think maybe you shouldn’t have gotten out of bed. You spilled your coffee, the cat throw up a hairball, one of the kids left their lunch at home, you get to work and find out you have two different shoes on, and your boss / spouse is in a bad mood. It still isn’t even noon yet.

Yes we have all had them, and we will continue to have them. Life is hard, that’s a fact. How you deal with the everyday problems determine how hard your life will be. You can take these problems in stride and let them roll off your back or you can embrace them. Hold onto to those problems all day long; tell them to everyone who asks you how you are doing. Hour by hour during the day you will most likely be able to add more things that go wrong to your long list of woes. By the end of the evening you can’t wait to get to bed and pull the covers over your head and start over the next day.

I’m not making light of these bad days. They exist and are very real. Have you ever given thought as to why some days we can handle the everyday problems better than other days.

I believe in spiritual warfare. God is real and the devil is real. The Bible tells us so.

God knows when we are tired, exhausted and our guard is down, so does Satan. When we are at our weakest Satan will seek us out. He will throw every obstacle he can in front of us to see if we will break. Will we over react to some little thing that goes wrong and blow it out of proportion?

That is why God has told us in Ephesians 6:10-13

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

We must prepare ourselves for these troublesome times. Taking care of ourselves, getting enough sleep, eating well balanced meals and most of all being in constant contact with God’s word. When we are in “the word of God”, we feel stronger, more prepared for whatever comes our way. We need to put on the full armor of God to be ready to face the life that we live each day.

What are some of the ways you put on the armor of God?

Next week I’ll cover some of the ways we can prepare ourselves for the fight.

Questioning God?

by Lillian Humphries

Have you ever questioned God? I have. I have even been disrespectful to Him. I’m not extremely proud of those moments, but I know they have happened. I have even been known to write Him letters. I wish I had kept those letters.

Some days when life was really getting me down I would turn the world off get myself real comfortable, snugly pajamas, coffee or a diet soda maybe some chocolate, some soft music and then let God have it in my letter. Funny thing about those rants to God, I would always end up writing down all my blessings and wondering what in the world was I complaining about.

Oh this human mind of mine could not comprehend all the blessings God had given me. I could only focus on the one small piece of my life that was not the way I wanted it to be. Instead of saying, this is where God has put me and I better use it for His good, I would sit and complain about what I thought was wrong with my life.

Questioning God is OK in my book. If we don’t question Him then we are not thinking. Now I’m not talking about the questioning of His ability to guide me or His love for me. I’m talking about the understanding of His ways. If I am thinking about God and questioning His ways and trying to understand Him, then my life is focused on God.

Throughout the Bible we have some examples of those that questioned God. Questions that are from a critical heart are different than those with an open heart. 

Open your Bible to hear God speak

Hebrews 11:6 tells us; “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”

Being inquisitive is part of our makeup and God made us. Look at a child, always questioning and exploring and wondering. We are God’s children no matter how old we are. The question is how your heart is when you are submitting these questions to God. We should have our Bible with us when we question God so we can search for the answers and hear His word talk to us. Then we need to be ready to accept His answer even if it isn’t what we think it should be.

Are you seeking for answers in the right place? Are you willing to hear the answers? Do you want the answers or are you just complaining like I was?