These are the Days

I guess I have to admit it; I like country and western music. But to be very honest, I think what I really like is country pop. I was listening to a group on my iPhone the other day and some lyrics caught my attention. The song is called, “These Are the Days,” and in part, the lyrics say: “Well it feels like we are living from paycheck to check, we wake up wondering what might happen next. Yeah sometimes it feels like we won’t make it through but the hard times pass like the good ones do. Don’t be afraid, we can’t forget, these are the days.”

These are the days…the days of joy for many, perhaps the days of sorrow for some. These are the days filled with tasks and struggles and blessings. The activities and demands of everyday living cause all of us to blur the lines between yesterday, today and tomorrow. And the net result is a kind of “living in the fog of travail.” Days go rushing by without import. We agonize over the failures of yesterday and fuss about the scary things of tomorrow. So today is just a stop gap for the next “today.” And they all just keep flying by!

Every morning at Stoneybrooke, the children and I do a bit of recitation. I holler, “This is the day the Lord has made.” And the kids holler back, “I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

It occurs to me that I ought to be doing a better job of applying that marvelous verse (Ps. 118:24) to my daily life. Today is the day the Lord prescribed for me (and you). It may be a tough one (living paycheck to paycheck) or it may be joy filled (with moments we won’t forget), but the bottom line is….”these ARE the days!”

This week, if things are going well for you and yours; stop and do some rejoicing like the early church in Samaria did in Acts 8. As Philip taught the scriptures and healed the sick, the response of the people was evident. “So there was great joy in that city.”

On the other hand, if this is a week of profound struggle look at the resolve of the Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:17-18): “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Regardless of the passing circumstances (and they will pass!) of our lives, let’s make a concerted effort to rejoice each and every day. Because in reality, “These are the Days!”

By His Grace and for His Glory,
Sherry L. Worel