horton's who
 | |  | |  | |  | |  |
learning about God's grace
| you had a bad day |
Because you had a bad day. You're taking one down. You sing a sad song just to
turn it around. You say you don't know. You tell me don't lie. You work at a smile
and you go for a ride. You had a bad day. The camera don't lie. You're coming
back down and you really don't mind. You had a bad day, You had a bad day
Daniel Powter, A Bad Day.
I love a good cup of coffee in the morning. Years ago I loved a particular chain
brand of coffee. (I won’t say the name of the company, but it begins with a
“dunkin”.) A medium hazelnut with sugar and cream had me dead to right. I loved
it; craved it. As years went on, another chain brand hooked its claws into me. (I
won’t say the name of the company, but it begins with a “star”.) A grande mild with
half & half and three splendas is perfect. I now enjoy many different types of
coffee, but a poorly made cup still seems to be a thrown monkey wrench.
I don’t know your morning persuasion, but you know what I’m talking about. Your
oatmeal is too lumpy. The toast is burned on one side. A quick look in the pantry
shows the cereal box is completely empty. (Who puts an empty box back in the
pantry anyway?) Maybe your shoestring breaks, your car won’t start, you wake up
with a crick in your neck, or just wake up on the wrong side of the bed. There could
be hundreds of things that sets your day off target.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 – “On a good day, enjoy yourself; On a bad day, examine your
conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days so that we won’t take anything for
granted.”
The Message
The overwhelming theme of Ecclesiastes is vanity, all is vanity. Or as the The
Message translates; smoke. It kind of throws your spirits to the ground when you
read that everything you do and all that ever has been done is vanity, meaningless
smoke, and spitting in the wind. But you come to understand as you read through
to the end of the book, that life and what you do is about your perspective and
focus.
Nobody likes to have bad days. If you work closely with people in an office setting,
within minutes you can determine who’s having a bad day. Their hair may be
disheveled, they’re terse, they have that, “don’t say anything to me right now” nod
as they walk through the door. You know, how you most likely are two days out of
the week.
If there’s a time for everything, there is certainly a time for bad days. I’m not just
talking about undesirable coffee or car troubles. Bad days are subjective with
different people, but real nonetheless. They include rough news about family
members, medical tragedies, broken hearts, a loss of will, etc. The bad days can
seem to be never ending as well.
If the bad days are coming or they’re here already, start now to change your focus
and perspective. Don’t wallow in them. (You know people love to wallow)
Ecclesiastes 7:14 teaches us that we have a job to do on bad days and it’s
examining our conscience. What does that mean? It doesn’t mean trying to find
the answer to the question why. But it means stopping and redirecting your focus
and perspective in the middle of the monkey wrench breakdown.
The last verses of Ecclesiastes teaches us the conclusion of the matter of vanity,
smoke, spitting in the wind, good days and bad days – Ecclesiastes 12:13 – “The
last and final word is this: Fear God. Do what He tells you.”
Examining and redirecting your conscience, heart, focus and perspective on the
bad days is vital to fearing God and listening when He speaks. And that can only
lead to good days.
turn it around. You say you don't know. You tell me don't lie. You work at a smile
and you go for a ride. You had a bad day. The camera don't lie. You're coming
back down and you really don't mind. You had a bad day, You had a bad day
Daniel Powter, A Bad Day.
I love a good cup of coffee in the morning. Years ago I loved a particular chain
brand of coffee. (I won’t say the name of the company, but it begins with a
“dunkin”.) A medium hazelnut with sugar and cream had me dead to right. I loved
it; craved it. As years went on, another chain brand hooked its claws into me. (I
won’t say the name of the company, but it begins with a “star”.) A grande mild with
half & half and three splendas is perfect. I now enjoy many different types of
coffee, but a poorly made cup still seems to be a thrown monkey wrench.
I don’t know your morning persuasion, but you know what I’m talking about. Your
oatmeal is too lumpy. The toast is burned on one side. A quick look in the pantry
shows the cereal box is completely empty. (Who puts an empty box back in the
pantry anyway?) Maybe your shoestring breaks, your car won’t start, you wake up
with a crick in your neck, or just wake up on the wrong side of the bed. There could
be hundreds of things that sets your day off target.
Ecclesiastes 7:14 – “On a good day, enjoy yourself; On a bad day, examine your
conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days so that we won’t take anything for
granted.”
The Message
The overwhelming theme of Ecclesiastes is vanity, all is vanity. Or as the The
Message translates; smoke. It kind of throws your spirits to the ground when you
read that everything you do and all that ever has been done is vanity, meaningless
smoke, and spitting in the wind. But you come to understand as you read through
to the end of the book, that life and what you do is about your perspective and
focus.
Nobody likes to have bad days. If you work closely with people in an office setting,
within minutes you can determine who’s having a bad day. Their hair may be
disheveled, they’re terse, they have that, “don’t say anything to me right now” nod
as they walk through the door. You know, how you most likely are two days out of
the week.
If there’s a time for everything, there is certainly a time for bad days. I’m not just
talking about undesirable coffee or car troubles. Bad days are subjective with
different people, but real nonetheless. They include rough news about family
members, medical tragedies, broken hearts, a loss of will, etc. The bad days can
seem to be never ending as well.
If the bad days are coming or they’re here already, start now to change your focus
and perspective. Don’t wallow in them. (You know people love to wallow)
Ecclesiastes 7:14 teaches us that we have a job to do on bad days and it’s
examining our conscience. What does that mean? It doesn’t mean trying to find
the answer to the question why. But it means stopping and redirecting your focus
and perspective in the middle of the monkey wrench breakdown.
The last verses of Ecclesiastes teaches us the conclusion of the matter of vanity,
smoke, spitting in the wind, good days and bad days – Ecclesiastes 12:13 – “The
last and final word is this: Fear God. Do what He tells you.”
Examining and redirecting your conscience, heart, focus and perspective on the
bad days is vital to fearing God and listening when He speaks. And that can only
lead to good days.