Every Day is God's Day - Kristin Sterk

Psalm 118:24 – This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

This past weekend, the town I grew up in revived an old tradition called the Dandelion Festival. Covid did a number to several events, including this one. Well, this past Saturday, the sun was shining, the dandelions were in full bloom, family, friends, and the community came out, to just be together. No matter where you walked, people were mingling, laughter filled the air, and people young and old filled the parking lots and streets.

As Mazy and I walked towards the activities (thankfully they were all outside!), I kept thinking “this just feels right”. A childhood memory coming to life once again. I could go without the fear of getting sick, and I finally didn’t have to miss it, but could be within it.

Every day is a new day. Every day is a day GOD has made. But doesn’t it sometimes feel like our trials and struggles “make” our day? Because they seem to run our day? That is how my mind now often views a day. How do I keep fighting these diseases? How do I prevent my body from getting sick? How do I do what I can to gain strength and health, while still recovering? It feels all-consuming at times. But my view of who God is and what He’s given me, is completely skewed.

I forget to wake up and say, “This is YOUR day God, do with it as you please.” And because this is a day YOU created, I can rejoice and be glad in it. Rest in it. Be in it. Be thankful for it. Now of course it’s easy to be thankful for a day that just feels right – like going to the Dandelion Festival. I wasn’t hooked up to an IV, needing to fear getting sick (thank you hand sanitizer and for it being outside), or miss it because I was in the hospital. I may still look like a cancer patient, but God is allowing a season of life, thanks to the changing seasons in his world, to enjoy the joys of life again.

Through the past 7 years, God has allowed some really difficult trials in our life. Days where we’ve been given diagnoses that are life-altering and have us wondering how much more, God? Circumstances that have separated our family for weeks on end. But even in those days, IT IS STILL GOD’S DAY. It’s a day he created. It’s a day he allowed. So despite our circumstances, we can choose to rejoice and be glad in it, or to let our circumstances overwhelm us and control us. I’ve realized how much I’ve allowed the latter.

I remember saying in a previous post, I want to enjoy life, not just endure it. I want to go from surviving to thriving again. I can’t control what God allows with my circumstances, but I can control my reactions to them. I can choose to say, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

What trial are you walking with today? When you wake up in the morning, what is your response? Is it a “here we go again”, or “this is God’s day, what do you have for me?” I’m often a “here we go again”…but I don’t want to live like that anymore. I want to rejoice in what God is doing in and through my life, as we walk through these trials. Do you feel like you are just enduring or enjoying life? Just surviving our thriving? God woke you up this morning so that we could live this day for him. That’s how we can rejoice and be glad in it!

Let’s step out of the bondage of our trials, into the freedom God so graciously gives us each day, to say, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”