This is God's Day

When I was a kid, one of my favorite hymns was This is the Day. The words were very simple:
This is the day, this is the day
That the Lord has made, that the Lord has made
I will rejoice, I will rejoice
And be glad in it, and be glad in it

This is the day that the Lord has made
I will rejoice and be glad in it

This is the day, this is the day
That the Lord has made.

I would sing it all the time in and out of church. However, somewhere in the years between then and now I forgot the message of rejoicing in this day God has given me to live in.

A couple weeks ago I was watching a video of Otto Koning. He was preaching about how when bad things happen and we don't know what to do, we should rejoice. It goes so completely against the grain, but is exactly what we should do when trials come.

As I sat there watching and listening three things occurred to me. First, that I don't rejoice. Second, I realized that I just don't have it in me to do so. I am not strong enough to praise God when my life is a mess. Then, as if God Himself spoke the Truth to me, I realized that of course I don't have the strength to rejoice. It has to be the Spirit of God in me. I am not sure where in the Bible (somewhere in I or II Corinthians) it says this - but I know it does - a person cannot praise God unless the Spirit is in him or her.

That final epiphany was a weight off my shoulders. So, in the past couple days as I have been battling a series of relationship issues and a migraine, I have been asking God to help me rejoice. To praise Him for Who He is and for all He has done for me.

It's hard, but lessons like this take time to sink in and enter my everyday actions.


A couple months ago I heard this song by Lincoln Brewster: Today is the Day. It took me back to my childhood and the old hymn I used to love. The message is the same: today I am alive for God's purposes; so I need to praise Him for this breath in my lungs right now.