The Wrong Side of the Bed
Yesterday I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Have you ever had a day like that? I wasn’t necessarily in a bad mood. I was just in some kind of funk. Perhaps the best way to describe it is that I felt low. Nothing huge and terrible happened to affect my mood, but I allowed dozens of tiny little things that didn’t go perfectly to bother me and bring me down.
I know that part of it was just the sadness that still sometimes creeps in every once in awhile since I lost the baby. It has been a month since my surgery and my cycle hasn’t returned yet so I took a pregnancy test. Even though I didn’t expect anything a negative test always makes me cry. And things just kind of seemed to go downhill from there.
And then in the evening service at church yesterday our pastor shared about his visit to see our missionaries in Papua New Guinea last week and as I looked at the images on the screen my attitude started shifting. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of the blessings in our lives in order to gain a right perspective. I saw photos of people who had infinitely less than I do with smiles on their faces. I heard stories of how hard these people worked and how much they went through. I saw images of a woman lying next to her baby who would never grow up and never look into her eyes.
I was reminded that God has given me so much. He has blessed me with family and friends and possessions. He has never left my side. He has rejoiced with me in my moments of gladness. He has calmed me when I was afraid and alone. The more I think about His love for me the less I understand it. I have done nothing to deserve His grace, but He gives it daily.
I think sometimes when we have bad days and we just want to crawl back in bed and wallow in self-pity we must instead look to the Lord. We must simply be still and know that He is God and know that He is sovereign. We must remember that He has felt our pain and He will make a way for us to rejoice again!
Lord, help me to keep a right view of my life. Help me to see the blessings you have given and focus on your goodness and your presence. Let me look outside of my life and regain a proper focus of the world around me so that I might live a life of gratitude. Thank you for being with me always, even in the hard times. Let me be a light for You!
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
- Zephaniah 3:17
I know that part of it was just the sadness that still sometimes creeps in every once in awhile since I lost the baby. It has been a month since my surgery and my cycle hasn’t returned yet so I took a pregnancy test. Even though I didn’t expect anything a negative test always makes me cry. And things just kind of seemed to go downhill from there.
And then in the evening service at church yesterday our pastor shared about his visit to see our missionaries in Papua New Guinea last week and as I looked at the images on the screen my attitude started shifting. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of the blessings in our lives in order to gain a right perspective. I saw photos of people who had infinitely less than I do with smiles on their faces. I heard stories of how hard these people worked and how much they went through. I saw images of a woman lying next to her baby who would never grow up and never look into her eyes.
I was reminded that God has given me so much. He has blessed me with family and friends and possessions. He has never left my side. He has rejoiced with me in my moments of gladness. He has calmed me when I was afraid and alone. The more I think about His love for me the less I understand it. I have done nothing to deserve His grace, but He gives it daily.
I think sometimes when we have bad days and we just want to crawl back in bed and wallow in self-pity we must instead look to the Lord. We must simply be still and know that He is God and know that He is sovereign. We must remember that He has felt our pain and He will make a way for us to rejoice again!
Lord, help me to keep a right view of my life. Help me to see the blessings you have given and focus on your goodness and your presence. Let me look outside of my life and regain a proper focus of the world around me so that I might live a life of gratitude. Thank you for being with me always, even in the hard times. Let me be a light for You!
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
- Zephaniah 3:17
that just brought tears to my eyes, Kristi! Praying for you!
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