WHEN YOU HAVE A BAD DAY
Today I saw unkindness
that I could do nothing about. It made me sad. I was just glad to be able to get
through the day. We’ve all had bad days. I was reminded of a story I wrote in
2012, called “When Everything Goes Wrong, It Can Still Turn Out Okay.” I think
you’ll be able to relate. Here’s the story:
“Sometimes I’m reminded of
how thankful I am to have a buildup of God’s Word in me! In the last two weeks, it sustained me
through a lot of not-so-great things. First my truck broke down and I was stuck
four hours waiting for a tow truck that never came. I called the Car Doctor and
he came, but the damage was too much for him to fix, so then he called a tow
truck which finally came and I reached home at 9:00p.m. , at the end of a day that had started at 3:30a.m!
On top of that I had two
days to re-register the truck. I found out that I couldn’t re-register until I
got an inspection, because someone had rear-ended me a year ago and the
insurance called my truck a total loss, even though it was only the bed that
got pushed in so I couldn’t freely let down the gate. I went through the
process of getting a salvage title (I’m not even going to go into how
complicated that was!) but still the DMV wanted an inspection paper that the original
repair guy was supposed to have filled out for me.
When I went back to the repair
guy, he wouldn’t give me the paper unless I gave him four large paintings for
free. He was trying to bribe me, just what I didn’t need at that point. When I
got home, I called another repair place and found out how much my repairs would
cost me—yikes! It was expensive, but at least the new place would fill out the
paperwork for the inspection so I didn’t have to go back to the creepy guy. I
was barely hanging on at that point, trying to manage a way to get a ride to
work at 4:15a.m. the next morning ,
getting the money for repairs, the DMV, the rental car, etc.
God faithfully assured me
that I had the money to pay for all this, but it was close. Then the next
morning before I had to return the rental car, I decided to take my truck to
work instead of the rental car, and as I was backing out of the garage I backed
right into the front side fender of the rental car! By this time, my nerves
were frayed and although I’d been holding it together until then, the moment I
hit the rental car with my own truck, I was taken over the edge. I was
physically and emotionally exhausted and my faith was shaken and broken. I
burst into uncontrollable sobs and crying.
I knew that God had
provided all the money I’d needed so far, but then the rental car, I just
couldn’t see how I could take one more thing. I didn’t think I could possibly
have the money for that too. It was the last straw and I lost it. I got out of
the truck with my head hanging low as I slowly walked across the front lawn in
the dark to my front door. I stood there, heaving, sobbing, gasping for air in
between the crying, and I rang the bell.
My roommate Jane came to
the door. What a sight I must have been! She brought me inside and put her arm
around me as I was crying, gasping and trying to tell her what happened all at
the same time. She calmly said, “You need to just sit down.” I promptly said,
“I can’t, I have to go to work,” but she got me to sit down a second and then I
blurted out, at the top of my lungs, “I just can’t take any more!” She comforted
me and said, “It’s okay; I understand; it’s going to be okay.” And then it was!
Sometimes we just can’t
take another inspirational teaching, another prayer to say, another scripture
to quote, another preaching. Sometimes we just need a hug, an “I understand.” A
little mercy and a little loving kindness in this situation could do more than
anything else.
True compassion from the
innermost part of my roommate welled up in her and I was fixed. Hebrews 4:15 says that the Lord Jesus is
like that: he feels our pain, our hurts. He understands. He took on the nature
of man so he understands that part of us intimately. “For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” The Greek
word for “touched” is sumpatheo,
which means to identify with and understand another’s situation and feelings.
Hebrews 2:18 says: “He himself hath suffered, and he
is able to succor us.” The word “succor” in the Greek translation means “he
runs up at a cry for help.” There are so many places recorded in the Bible
where God’s compassion for people is shown. He feels our pains just like a true
friend does, or like a parent does when a child is in pain or hurting. It’s
recorded in Isaiah 63:9: “In all their affliction he [God] was afflicted, and
the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed
them, and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.”
We’ve all probably read
and seen the “footprints in the sand” poem and picture, and sometimes that’s
exactly what we need: someone to carry us when we can’t do it ourselves,
someone to just put their arm around us and say, “I understand.” God worked in
my roommate Jane, and that’s the way the family of God is supposed to work. God
delights in that. As it turned out, God blessed me with all the money I needed
for the car repairs, so I wouldn’t have to be concerned about that either.”
Tonight I’m feeling like
the Lord is just saying to me, “I understand. I see what you see too, but don’t
take that burden on yourself. Just let me do My thing. Let me take care of it.”
And that’s just what I’m going to do.
Love, Carolyn
Check out my new WINGS
book W I N G S Volume 2: JOURNEY WITH JESUS ………………… 58 great chapters!
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