Lent Day 6, Monday, March 7, 2022

“Make Today a Good Day!”

It’s another slow Monday.  As a pastor, I’m exhausted on Mondays.  Sometimes I feel like I’m being dragged through a cactus patch by a tortoise.  Painful, slow, and unrelenting, Monday can literally be a real drag. 

Today’s Challenge is to have a good day today.  This doesn’t seem fair!  Even if today is a normal Monday, making this commitment seems ridiculous.  I can’t control the people or natural occurrences around me.  Nor can I control the phone calls, texts, appointments, unpleasant zoom meetings or the evening news. 

However, I can control the way I respond to anything that occurs.  Stump my toe?  I can respond appropriately.  An idiot on television says something awful?  I can respond with a prayer.  Someone loses their temper and directs it toward me?  I can love them.

I recognize that I’m trying to simplify lots of things that may occur today, but I also recognize that I need to have much better control over my actions and reactions.  Surely, for 24 hours, I can respond to all people, pets, storms, and surprises with grace and love. 

I need some help on this one.  Try it and let me know how you do.  Maybe that will give me a little more encouragement that it may actually be possible.

“Make Today a Good Day!”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man, this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27, NIV)