Becky Crenshaw

This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24

Even if you aren’t a churchy person, I am betting that this is a familiar verse.  This is the day that the Lord has made.

Today.

Right now.

You are sitting in the middle of it.

But what if it isn’t the day you would choose? 

What if the bills are spilling over?  Or you calendar is bursting at the seams?  What if your baby is sick?  Or maybe you are in a tiff with your closest friend?  Maybe your husband is in a bad mood? Or your child is struggling in school?

A dear friend of  mine is having major surgery today at 1 o’clock.  And another is in a knock-down-drag-out battle with stage 4 cancer.

This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24

Can we just all read this outloud right now and add emphasis on one word?  WILL.  Even better, if I could ask permission of the Lord, I’d like to add one little-bitty word to this verse…let us insert the word, CHOOSE.

This is the day that the Lord has made, we WILL [CHOOSE] to rejoice and be glad in it.  

Psalm 118:24 emphasis mine

There is a running joke in my family that dinner isn’t ready until the bread is burnt.  This stems from childhood, because it seemed at every meal, we would put the bread in the oven only to forget about it.  Until we could smell it.  Burning.

But instead of throwing it out, we’d laugh it off, scrape the burnt edges and place the bread basket in the center of the table.

Life is going to burn our edges.  Amen?  The top will scorch.  The smoke may rise, but there is still a fine piece of bread under the char.

Today, is life burning your bread?  I must admit, mine is a black in spots.  I can smell it from the oven.  My heart is heavy in areas and my prayer journal full of hardship and heart breaks, but I am choosing today, in Jesus Name, to pull out my Sword (God’s Word) and scrape off the top – I am stubborn like that.

I see this day as one the Lord has made and I WILL CHOOSE TO REJOICE IN IT.  For it is a gift from God.

I will not speak words of death. Or negativity.  I choose to not doubt or lose heart.

I will rejoice. Fighting the good fight of faith, And be glad in it.

Will you pull up a seat and join me?

Reflect and Respond:

Take a few minutes to reflect on areas where life is “scorching the top.”  Release those areas to the Lord and ask Him to fill you with His joy.  His hope.  His peace.  As only He can.

If your bread isn’t burning today, can you think of someone in your life who needs prayer?  Spend a few minutes praying for them.  Pray the below verses over them.  Send them a message of encouragement.  You might be just the person the Lord wants to use to help restore their joy.

Power Verses:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses a faint you that I have set life and death, blessing and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to him voice and hold fast to him.  For the Lord is your life… Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil and let us see what we are made  of. – Charles Spurgeon