Psalm 118:24 says: "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
I've been struggling with this verse this week. By struggling, I mean I've been playing tug-of-war with it. Despite the fact that just saying it will illicit and automatic urge to clap my hands and sing it (my former Sunday school teacher- Miss Grace- would be so happy), I’m still tugging at its very meaning.
I think for many years- and rightfully so- I've seen this verse as a reminder that every single day that God gives us is a gift. He thought it worthy of the sunrise and sunset, so there must be a reason to rejoice.
In this very thought is where my struggle lies…because some days- let’s be real- just don’t seem like a gift at all.
For instance, 9/11 is a day that for many will bring nothing but bad memories. That day will always be recognized as the day thousands of lives were changed.
Another example is the day of a shooting in a movie theater just last week. How are the families affected by that supposed to ever think of that day as a gift?
The list could go on and on for us as a nation. And…what about all those individuals all over the world? The ones who remember every year when their loved one died, when their house burned down, when they lost their job, etc…
Again, herein lies the tug of war against my own heart and ultimately against the very meaning of this Psalm.
I’m having a hard time with one specific day. It’s a day that comes every year. A day I will always remember with great joy and at the same time, great pain. How is it that God can make one day be both a person’s best day and their worst day? Maybe those two ideas are on the ends of this imaginary tug-of-war rope.
August 5th is the day I struggle with every year. It is one of my best days ever because my son was born. It is also one of my worst days ever because it is the day I discovered my husband was having an affair, and that my marriage was over. To add insult to injury, this is also the day that my church (a church I helped start) opened its doors for the first time.
Every August 5th is hard, but this year it’s more difficult than normal. We will ‘celebrate’ 5 years to the day that we opened our doors. My heart will at once rejoice and be broken.
A dear friend prayed with me about my “august 5th issue." I thought it revealing and remarkable that she brought up the story of Lazarus during our prayer time together. As she spoke of Lazarus’ resurrection, she pointed out that the day was about death, but also life.
This got me to thinking…Lazarus- as well as his friends and family- had to experience death so that they could then experience life. In the literal sense, Lazarus went from death to life, but for us this story is an example of the offer to experience Jesus’ life-giving redemption. We can’t be redeemed or given new life if we don’t first die in some way.
This is not to say -by any stretch of the imagination- that I’m glad my marriage died a horrific death, but I am grateful for the redeeming love that my Jesus has shown me since that death. Many things died in me that fateful day; however, nothing died in me that cannot be redeemed by God.
My “day of dread” is no different than any other day. Everyone has a day they wish had never happened. Everyone has a day so great they wish they could live it over and over again. Sometimes our day of sadness is also our day of joy. Our saddest day is always someone else’s greatest day, and vise-versa.
Isn’t this the mystery and greatness of our God? He can and does create every day- the good, the bad, and the ugly. Some of those days will be easy to rejoice in, and others won’t. I guess the best we can do is remember the fact that any day-good or bad- has only 24 hours, and that every new day brings a new abundance of God’s grace and mercy.
Maybe in that thought, my tug of war will cease to exist. God’s grace and mercies are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
A Psalm started the tug, but a Lamentation will end it. There is irony there somewhere….
