Encouragement For The Tough Day

It had been a tough day. For the past three days I'd been studying to take my drivers permit test and when I'd finally finished my six required hours of study I'd failed the online practice test. Twice. Then I failed the next time I took the practice test. And then the fourth time. *Let's out long sigh* I was frustrated and wondered why I couldn't get a passing grade after I'd studied hard for six hours. On top of this I'd had a non-stop kind of day the previous day and was already tired from it. I'd not gotten enough sleep and was starting to feel it's effects. The quilt I'd been working on putting together was't working out and no matter how many times I tried to fix it, I got the same messed up result. I also had to pick out clothes and get showered for church the next day as well as get a decent amount of sleep so I wouldn't fall asleep during the sermon. {Okay, so maybe I wasn't all that tired...I get a fair amount of sleep, but you get the point} To make a long story short, it had been a rough day. At the end of it, I just sat down in despair and wondered why everything I'd done that day didn't end up working out or turned up a complete failure and mess.     

But then my mind came to my April challenge. Lately I'd been slacking on my devotions and wanted to get back with it. So I challenged myself to read 9 chapters of the Bible a day to complete the whole New Testament in the month of April. At this time I'd just finished up the Gospels which were a real blessing to me during this time. One thing that was impressed upon mind often during my Gospel readings was just how much of our regular activities Jesus took a part of daily just like us. Often times when I think of Jesus life,  it's hard to think on a personal level. It's hard to imagine what His life was like beyond that of which is recorded in the Bible. What did His normal days look like? Did He ever face trails or difficulties? Was He ever frustrated? As I got to thinking about it, I realized that I actually had it better than Jesus did. I started to realize that He really did have some tough circumstances. While He did His ministry work, He had no home, no place to sleep at night. He slept wherever He could, probably on the ground without a comfortable bed or pillow or cover. He didn't have a regular supply of plenty of food to choose from. He ate what He could find or what others gave Him. He was constantly healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, raising the dead, and we see in Scripture that often times there were a lot of people crowed around wanting to see Him or hear Him preach. He was always putting someone else first. His tired body didn't stop Him from looking down into the little children's eyes and blessing them. His hunger didn't stop Him from healing a sick person.

All the sudden my biggest "uncomfortable" circumstances or "pains" seem to small and petty besides what Christ willingly went through for me. How big of a deal is it that I failed my practice test? So what? Just study more and take it again, of what eternal significance does it hold? What's the big deal with my quilt being so messed up? Just take a big breath and fix it. Even if it takes a couple times, do it. What will it matter how it looks when I'm in heaven, or even a few years from now? Is it really that big of a deal? I must realize that this isn't my home, I'm only here on earth temporarily, for but a breath compared to the time of all eternity spent with Jesus. Then it won't matter how my day went or how my projects tuned out.

As I started to think of how He lived I realized that He also went through a lot of what I go through which helps me to know that Her knows how I feel and is ready to help. Just knowing that He's been there makes a world of difference. It helps me to be able to open my arms and let Him help instead of getting frustrated because "No-one else knows how I feel or what it's like". I'd encourage you to look up Scriptures were Jesus went through the same thing as you are whenever you're frustrated or feeling overwhelmed. Or you could just take some time to go through a few of the Gospels and note certain circumstances Jesus was in that you may have been in, or will be in sometime in the future. See how He responded. How did that impact eternity? How does it effect us today, some couple thousand years later? So, if you're having a hard day, if nothing seems to go right, then remember that Jesus has been there. He is ready to help and offer encouragement or strength. Not only has He been there, but He's been over the level we will ever be. Since He died such a horrible death, He's had it rougher than we ever will, and because of it His love has increased and is shown freely to us. Because He lives gain, we too can live today, no matter what is thrown at us, Jesus will be there for us.

Living through His strength, not of my own,