ADDICTED TO GREAT DAYS!
Not every day is what we would excitedly call a “Great Day!”
In our world of grand announcements on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media, we can develop the impression that every day for everyone else is an over-the-top, incredibly great day. If we are not careful, we can become addicted to the high moment, the exciting event, the great day!
As I read Scripture, however, I begin to understand that though every day is given to us by a great and good God, not every day is a high moment. One of the great lessons to be learned in life is that waiting on the Lord is an important behavior we must develop. Jeremiah tells us in his Lamentations that God’s mercies are new every morning, and that God is faithful every day; but he adds something in later verses that we may not be as ready to receive:
Lamentations 3:22-26 “It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.”
Notice two things that Jeremiah tells us. First, the Lord is our “portion.” I try to live every day recognizing that my life is lived in the presence of the Lord and that He is the most important person in my life. Honestly, however, there are days that are so good, so victorious, so eventful that, even though I acknowledge Him, I just love the life He gives and everything that I get to experience and enjoy! But there are also those days when there is no great event, no great victory, and frankly, it is a day of routine. On those days I am as blessed as on the great days, because I have the Lord. He is my portion; and when I have Him, even when it is a quiet day, I have enough. We must be very careful not to become addicted to the high day, when the only day we are excited about the Lord is the day we have the big meeting or the great blessing.
Every day is a day to meet with the Lord and be grateful that He is in our lives.
Just as He is faithful to give us new mercy every day, we must be faithful to meet with Him and worship Him just because we have Him, even though we may not anticipate some great happening. He is our portion and He is enough.
Jeremiah goes on to say: “The Lord is good unto them that wait for him….” That implies some quiet time in routine looking for the blessing, the “great day.” Every day when we rise, it is the day that the Lord has made, and we are to rejoice and be glad in it. But not every day is it easy. There are days when I go to prayer and study and it just flows: praise is easy, worship is easy, prayer is easy, and study is wonderful. But! There are many days when I must ask God to enable me to pray, I must labor at petition and intercession, and study is always good but at times more laborious than others. Has God abandoned me on those days, and should I set it aside if it is not fun, or shouldn’t my time with God always be rapturous? One would hope so, but I doubt that is anyone’s experience. No, we must learn to wait, to seek, to accept that there are days where there is no great moment, but God is still our portion; and on those days we should hope and quietly wait for the great day God gives to those who seek Him. Report the high day as a testimony to our great God but be satisfied with Him in the quiet days and be faithful, for He is your portion. God blesses that person who seeks Him when nothing is promised, other than God Himself.
My wife and I have been blessed with three children, whom we love and rejoice over. In each of her pregnancies, my wife went significantly past her due date. I can remember the great days in each of those pregnancies. The excitement when you got the test back and you knew for sure she was expecting. By the way, in those days you had to go get a blood test. (Yes, we are ancient!) I can remember the joy of telling parents, preparing the nursery, and not knowing whether to buy pink or blue. Such a wonderful time! But l also remember that for nine plus months, most days were lived just waiting; and if memory serves me correctly, waiting with increasing discomfort as my wife grew and experienced all the little things pregnancy can bring to a mom. Every day was a good day because we were having a child, but it was a long time of waiting for the great day! But in every day of routine, we had to do the right thing and nurture my wife so she could nurture the child until she delivered.
Let us be as faithful to meet with God, as He is faithful to us to give us new mercies every morning. There will be high, wonderful, great days; but in the days of quiet and routine, He is still our portion:
He is enough!
