Have you ever heard the phrases, “Another day another dollar” or, “Just another day”?

What do these have in common? They both lack perspective and heart. Why is it so important to have these about our daily lives? I’m glad you asked.

GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE

Today is not anything like yesterday and won’t be like anything we’ll experience tomorrow. Jesus said tomorrow has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34), so how can we pretend we already know what’s coming? When we expect to experience life a certain way, we don’t really live it, we just perform it. But life isn’t about performance, it’s about living into our God-given purpose.

Truthfully, the only way to be truly alive internally is to have faith in Jesus and let the Holy Spirit go to work; that’s basic Christianity 101. We’re talking about what comes with the new heart of flesh we receive as we respond with faith in Christ (Ezekiel 36:26).

ATTITUDE SHIFT

Every true Christian suffers. However, to see another day as just another day is to miss the blessing of viewing this day with an open heart for the surprises God has in store. When we live as though today is just another day–like dragging our feet through the mud–our attitude begets bitterness, and our belief for the moment becomes one of defeat. We’re allowed to have times of feeling down—we’re allowed to feel sad. After all, the Bible says there is a time to cry, and also a time to grieve (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). But we aren’t meant to remain in that mind space or heart posture. We’ll miss the blessings of today; we’ll close our ears from hearing God’s truth for us and we’ll leave our hearts susceptible to spiritual deception.

We’re designed to depend on God as our Rock, Redeemer, Sustainer, and Healer. If we have a problem with today, we bring it before Him in honesty, reverence, and gratitude for what He is doing alongside our suffering.

ADVERSITY DESIGNED TO STRENGTHEN US

In our worst moments, the circumstances around whatever turmoil we may be facing are to be realized as spiritual attacks placed purposefully to test our faith. They’re designed to build spiritual endurance and to strengthen the posture with which we view God as sovereign over all areas of our lives. By consciously holding this recognition, we acknowledge God’s awareness of allowing this adversity into our lives, we thank Him for initiating that which enables further intimacy and trust between us, and we ask for what we need from Him to make it through.

What we don’t do is complain, cry, and accuse God of unfairness. If God’s allowing something difficult in our lives to instigate growth in our maturity, why aren’t we looking for a way to learn from that? Why are we only seeing pain as a problem to be solved, rather than a lesson to be learned, or a mindset to be shifted?

TIME FOR HUMILITY

Why am I nailing this point to the wall? How many believers get caught in the spiral of wondering why God is doing what He’s doing, and how long does it take for us to flock from that mentality to one of seeking God’s purpose for us in the matter? To be frank, not one Christian has the excuse to have a pity-party without admitting the situation could definitely be worse, that God is still good, and acknowledging we can turn to Him to bring us comfort. In the very least, it’s still true that His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9).

What is required of us to be able to view our situation in this manner? Humbleness. We can’t come to God with pride, expecting Him to pay us what we think is due, because nothing is due to us. We’re sinners. Our worth doesn’t even accumulate into anything as a consequence of our sins, and the only reason God doesn’t see it that way is because of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 43:25, 1 John 1:7-9).

Therefore, there is no time to stay stuck in the wrong mindset, choosing to lay down in the valley of the shadow of death and say we deserve some light. We deserve nothing—we didn’t even deserve Jesus! But Jesus came (Romans 5:8). So there are no excuses.

A WAY OUT, OR A WAY THROUGH

Today is not just another day. If any of us is suffering from depression, anxiety, or any other ailment, disease, or disorder, he or she is allowed every feeling that comes with their adversity. God has a response to these obstacles, however. We never stay stuck when we turn to God. He provides a way out, or a way through. If He doesn’t heal us, He provides us the mindset with which to walk through the obstacle with.

A DIFFICULT LESSON TO LEARN

The problem is never that He leaves us in the hardship. The problem is we choose to keep our misery. We choose the victimhood mentality. Jesus came to set the captives free (Luke 4:18), to break the shackles of our chains, to give us life in abundance (John 10:10). That doesn’t always mean financial prosperity, either. Sometimes it means having the frame of mind to see that the grace of God is with us despite the cross we carry. We needn’t keep ourselves in the shackles of thinking “woe me” even while God is working on our behalf.

We have a hard time with this. We sometimes see all adversities the same, as though God simply provides the remedy we want as long as we pray. But He didn’t even do that for Paul! Have we forgotten God is not only sovereign, He is also omniscient; meaning, He has the perspective to see what we can’t, important foreknowledge of events, and He acts upon the reality we haven’t experienced yet based on His perfect will in conjunction with existing outside of space and time (omnipresent) at a place where He can make all things new. That means for some prayers, we may receive exactly what we asked for. In other times, the answer will be, “My grace is sufficient.” Are we willing to receive any answer as long as it’s from God?

REJECTING GOD’S TRUSTWORTHINESS

If we trust Him, our trust should translate into a faith that says whatever answer to our prayer He gives is righteous and good and perfect. If we aren’t trusting in Him, then we’re trusting in ourselves, and we honestly have been there and done that a million times. Trusting in ourselves not only doesn’t work, but it also is a form of rejecting God’s trustworthiness, and that will cause us to pull away from God. Intimacy is broken when we choose not to trust Him after He sent His Son to die for our sins while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

DECISIONS FOR YOUR VERY LAST DAY 

What do we take away from all of this? Live today like today is your very last day on Earth. You no longer have tomorrow to look forward to, but you have eternity ahead of you. What do you do with your time? How do you treat the people you come in contact with? Are you more selective in how you speak to people, or in the way you answer questions? Are the reasons you choose the activities you engage in different than usual? What do the answers to these questions tell you about your life, about the spirit behind your day-to-day mentality? If today was your last day, what is your faith saying about you? Is that the last thing you want to be remembered for?

A PRAYER FOR US ALL

Lord Jesus, thank you for humbling us by sending adversity that matches the need we have to become more like you. Thank you for allowing us to be tested so we could practice trusting in you even more than before. Grant us the wisdom to know how to handle these daily burdens we carry, grant us courage and humility to turn it all over to you, and the strength to handle what you know we can. Thank you for loving us so perfectly. Help us to hear you and see you in our daily lives, so we can focus more on where you’re leading us, and less on distractions from the world. We praise you, and we ask these things in Jesus’s name. Amen. 

Photo by Uladzislau Petrushkevich on Unsplash