Today Is Not an Accident

I’m not the kind of person who bounces out of bed each morning with a song on his heart. In fact, just this past week, more than not, my first waking thoughts were of the concerns weighing on my mind. If I didn’t make a conscious effort to redirect them, I would have undoubtedly begun those days in a bad mood.

Reminding myself that today and everyday is God’s day encourages me to look for signs of his presence and plan for me in every detail.

“The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.”
– Psalm 118:24, New International Version

It’s amazing how greeting each day with these words can change your perspective. It seems too simple, but it works.

God made this day in your life.
Now, some of you could be tempted to say, “Perhaps he made this day, but I ruined it before it arrived with some of my dumb decisions.”

No matter how things look, today is not ruined. It may be difficult, but it’s not destroyed. This is the day that the Lord has made, and he intends to accomplish one of two things in the next 24 hours:

1. He will carry you through whatever situation you’re facing.
2. He will deliver you from it.

He made this day to strengthen you. He made this day to empower you. He made this day to change you. He made this day to move you one step closer to the person he has designed you to be.
One of the first choices you make each day is, “What am I going to think about? What am I going to focus on?”

Too often when we’re facing hard times we start the day thinking about, “What bad thing will blindside me today? What will the next problem be? What else can possibly go wrong?”

No matter how things look for you today, you can find a place of peace in the presence of God. You can get centered in him because he is for you, and because he is in control of every situation — including this situation today.

Henry Drummond tells the story of two artists who were commissioned to paint a picture depicting perfect peace. The first artist painted a landscape with a mountain lake: calm, quiet, serene. The second artist painted a violent waterfall crashing down on jagged rocks, but next to it was a slender birch tree, with a single fragile branch stretched out over the water. In the fork of the branch was a bird’s nest. Lying in the nest, untroubled, even glistening from the spray of waterfall, was a small bird fast asleep.

This is peace. It’s not the absence of crashing waves, it’s the security of the nest in the midst of the turbulence.

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”
– Isaiah 26:3

You can celebrate this day, because this is the day that God has designed to change you, to teach you, to help you. God has the ability to help you thrive.