Yesterday was one of those days. You know, “those days”. You wake up tired. You don’t know what to wear. You just want to relax in your pajamas and binge watch some stupid Netflix show and doze off in the comfort of your cozy bed. No one allowed to bother you.
Then you are reminded…it’s Sunday and you have a place to be regardless of how you feel. You push through your feelings and rely on your faith…expecting that God has something planned for you…a message for you.
Yup, that was my yesterday.
As I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror preparing to dry my hair, I stared down at the floor and said to Kevin, “I don’t want to go to church today”. I wanted to be in my bubble…Maybe just drained from several busy days at work that had me overwhelmed. If I am being honest, there was no good excuse. He finished brushing his teeth and walked out of the room never acknowledging anything I said. In some ways, I wanted him to say, “then let’s stay home”, but he didn’t. So I pouted and finished taking my trades. Now, I am not one to usually be like this on Sunday…because I love church but like I said, it was one of “those days”. Sometimes we want someone to just entertain our feelings, I am glad my husband didn’t at that moment.
We walk into class and sit down five minutes late because of my procrastination in getting out of bed and getting dressed. As the teacher began teaching, he stopped and said, “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!” Maybe my face prompted that statement, because my emotions are usually are expressed on my face…I’m not very good at hiding them. I’m still not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing 😏. As soon as he said it, “my heart was convicted” and I said, “Thank you for saying that.” (And I immediately explained my feelings from the morning). It wasn’t necessarily what I wanted to hear, but that was exactly what I needed to hear! The Holy Spirit ministered to me in that moment…faith must trump my feeling every time! He entertained my feelings, through conviction.
From then on, my heart was flooded with so much emotion all day. I cried during morning worship, evening worship as the Holy Spirit reminded me of God’s goodness, provision, love and power over and over yesterday. God’s goodness flooded my soul, renewed my spirit and my heart was comforted, even when I didn’t know why I was needing it. I allowed the Holy Spirit in on my feelings, when everyone else was locked out. My heart knew I wanted to feel His presence yesterday and He showed up…He always does!
Sometimes, we have “those days”, but God is still the God of ALL our days! His goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life (Psalm 23:6). As I went back this morning and read through Psalm 23, I am thankful that there is nothing I lack (verse 1). I may have started yesterday all in my feelings, but when I laid down my head last night, I was all in on faith!
So, if today is one of “those days” for you, allow the Holy Spirit to convict you, comfort you and overflow your cup with the goodness of The Father! We can allow our feelings to control everything we do, or we can allow our faith to take over and be blessed! Had I stayed in bed yesterday, I would have missed out on the Holy Spirit flooding my soul with gratitude for my God! When I was focused on how great God was, there was no room to focus on my feelings.
Read Psalm 23 today. It’s always great to be reminded of The Good Shepherd.