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One of Those Days

by Jerry Ousley  
8/10/2007 / Christian Living

Have you ever had one of those days when it didn't seem like you could please anyone? I'm sure many of you have. I had one of those days recently at work. I do the purchasing of raw materials and it seems like it's either "chicken or feathers." You either have too much stock or not nearly enough. That equal balance just never seems to happen. But today (the first day back to work after a vacation day I might add) nothing went right.

Immediately I was hit up because inventory was really low (my superiors had been riding me about reducing inventory anyway). But it was down too low. That wasn't intended. It was just that the trucks were a little slow coming in. Now, suddenly it was entirely my fault. I'm sure in your own job you know the drill and can relate. It wasn't an easy day trying to keep calm and collected. I tried but I know I wasn't very good at it. But I did try.

Those days happen unfortunately. It can be the same spiritually. You can rise up in the morning, determined that this day is going to be the day that you accomplish great things for God. The day begins with a wonderful smile on your face, you walk in to work and your boss meets you at the door for whatever reason and really lays it on you. You take your verbal beating and pray, "Lord, I'm not going to let You down today."

You get to your workstation, whether it's in an office, or at a machine, fully intending to do the best job you can do. But when you say, "Good morning," to the person next to you they respond with, "What's so good about it?" That's just the beginning.

As the day wears on, things continually get worse until you get home, relieved that it's finally over, only to find that the other car is broke down, or something has happened to one of your kids at school. Finally you throw up your hands and exclaim, "Where did I go wrong Lord?"

The fact of the matter is that the devil doesn't want you to have a good day and just as sure as we determine we are going to, he'll poke up his ugly head and try to throw everything across your path that he can to make it go wrong. Sometimes he is successful. We give in and wonder to ourselves, "just what IS so good about this day?" Or we question God by saying something like, "Lord, I was determined to make this day Your day. Why did You let all these things happen?" BINGO! The answer is: God allowed the devil to tempt us with all those things to show us how strong or how weak we really are! It is an educational experience! God allows it because He already knows what we can and cannot take. We don't apparently know that for ourselves until we experience it. So now we know! We either get through it victoriously and can rejoice that we made it, or we completely lose it somewhere in the middle and we now know what we've got to work on.

Paul wrote, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28 MKJV). That means that everything that happens to us works for our good. It does not mean that God intended all the evil that the devil throws at us to happen but that He will take that evil of the devil and our own failures and use them as teaching tools for us if we will allow Him to. If we are called according to His purpose (in other words, seeking His will for ourselves and others) then nothing is ever a defeat for very long but turns around for our good and betterment. You can't beat a deal like that!

So the next time your day begins to go rotten remember that the softer fruit makes the best jams and jellies! Remember that dried up grapes turn to raisins; coal, under pressure and with time, turns to diamonds; and broken, crushed flowers put out the strongest fragrance! It has a good side!

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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