Encouragement for Today - November 12, 2012
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November 12, 2012
Turning Bad Days into Good Days |
"It is good to praise the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night..." Psalm 92:1-2 (NIV)
As a widow with a child, I have experienced many "bad days" in the last fifteen years.
Some days, I thought I wouldn't make it another 24 hours without some help. Other times, all I could find to be grateful for was that I actually got myself out of bed.
The sadness loomed over me and cast a dark shadow over my attitude and mood. I knew I didn't want to, or couldn't, live like that forever. Something had to change.
Scripture has the best remedy for us to help overcome the dark days. Psalm 92:1-2 tells us that "It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night..." (NIV)
Over the years I took this verse to heart and made an effort to praise the Lord for the blessings each day held. Moment by moment I forced myself to count the big and small gifts I had and eventually, I started to see them all around me.
Do you need to see some "good" right now because you're going through a challenging time? Or do you also struggle to notice the simple blessings in the midst of your hectic days?
Here are some tangible ways to purposefully see God's blessings, His goodness and His steadfast love - even on those "bad" days.
Keep a Blessings Journal
If it's a rough day, I read my Blessings Journal. Each night before I go to bed, I record several ways I noticed God's love and faithfulness to me that day. Rereading the journal refocuses my thoughts toward God, instead of my hard situation.
Make a Good Night Blessings Journal
When it's time to tuck your kids in at night, ask them to tell you one good thing about their day and write it in their journals. This ends their day on a positive note and gets them in the habit of praising the Lord too.
Create a Blessings Chain
Cut up strips of construction paper, write down your blessings and praises on the strips and staple them together to form a chain. Place your Blessings Chain somewhere in your home you'll see it often. It's a great conversation piece, and provides the opportunity to share God's goodness with company.
Design a Blessings Box
I keep a Blessing Box in the middle of my kitchen table. Inside are strips of colored paper and a pen. Throughout the year, my son and I write down things we're grateful for and place them inside the box. Together, we read the strips in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.
Give a Treasury of God's Promises
If you know someone who's going through a difficult time, create a gift box filled with God's promises personalized for them. Imagine them opening the box and reading this note, "My plan for your future, Gabriel, is filled with hope" or "Give thanks to the LORD, Jackie, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"
Raising a child as a single parent hasn't always been easy. There have been weeks and even months that have been "bad." But as I've chosen to praise God for the good, the bad days turn around. Today, let's begin to look for the blessings He's given us and praise Him for them.
Dear Lord, please turn our "bad" days into praise. And help us notice Your blessings all around us. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Do You Know the Greatest Blessing?
LeAnn Rice is the co-author of Untangling Christmas, an eBook filled with recipes, organization and gift ideas, tangible outreach projects and ways to seek our Savior during the holiday.
For a free template with 100 of God's Promises ready for you to customize into a one-of-a-kind treasury as the perfect gift for a friend or family member, go to www.SheCooks.organd click on "Resources."
For more encouragement from LeAnn Rice and her team of friends, stop by A Widow's Might.
Reflect and Respond:
Notice three blessings today that yesterday you would've missed.
Do you know someone who is going through a rough time and needs some encouragement? Right now, decide to do one practical thing to support them.
Power Verses:
1 Corinthians 2:12, "But God has given us his Spirit. That's why we don't think the same way that the people of this world think. That's also why we can recognize the blessings that God has given us." (CEV)
Proverbs 10:22, "The LORD's blessing enriches, and struggle adds nothing to it." (HCSB)
© 2012 by LeAnn Rice. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org
