Dear Mt. Olive Family and Friends,
An
early missionary to the tip of South Africa tells how every morning the natives
of that barren country greeted the sunrise with piercing howls and shrieking
laments. As he later learned in seeking
explanation for this weird rite, so much misery crowded into the lives of these
natives that they viewed each new day with horror, every sunrise as the
beginning of added evil.
In
stark contrast, for many years, I have had the pleasure of beginning each
Sunday worship service with the words of Psalm 118:24: “This is the day the
Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!”
It seems to me that every morning we have a rather important decision
to make: either greet the day with shrieks of horror or songs of praise. The choice is ours.
When Jesus noted that “Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34), He was not encouraging
gloom and doom despondency. He was
simply stating a fact. “In this world
you will have trouble…” That’s a
given. “But I (Jesus) have overcome the
world,” (John 16:33). That’s a promise.
“Trouble” can come in many ways: chronic pain, lose of someone
or something we held dear, setbacks in health, finances, family relationships, or
temptations from without or within. But
if we greet the sunrise with “piercing
howls and shrieking laments,” we can expect a miserable day to follow.
So much better is the way of the
Psalmist: greeting the dawn with praise and thanksgiving. Each new day is a time of grace. Each new morning another opportunity to
experience God’s love – His forgiveness, His generosity, His peace. Even if the
sun may not be visible today, it’s still shining. Even if clouds darken the sky and storms threaten to dampen your
picnic, all is not lost. “Weeping may
remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning, (Psalm 30:5).
After making a deliberate decision
and conscious choice to face the new day with praise and thanksgiving – with
“holy optimism”, we have the privilege of committing the day to the Lord. Take the day, the whole day – its contents
and outcomes – to the throne of grace.
With prayer, we acknowledge that this new day is another opportunity to
explore God’s goodness and experience God’s grace. It’s another 24 hours to give glory to our Creator and Redeemer. Even if the day should bring troubles and
pain, obstacles and sadness, if we have committed it to the Lord in prayer, we
will see His guiding hand and feel His gentle hug.
How we start the day is critical to
its outcome. Attitude plays a major
role in how we view the events that will follow in the subsequent hours; in
fact, someone has calculated that attitude makes up 90% of the equation. I’d say that’s rather significant!
What we do next is equally critical
to the outcome. That’s where private,
personal meditation and prayer is necessary.
Our prayer may go something like this: Lord, these are difficult days
for committed Christians. Satan is so
active and sin so rampant. Yet this is
the day that You have made! You’ve
given me the privilege to live it. Walk
with me today wherever I go – or better by far: teach me to walk wherever You
lead. Let me rejoice and be glad
today…”
There is one more thing: What we do
with this new day. The choice to face
the day with praise and thanksgiving is just the first of literally hundreds of
choices we’ll have to make in the next 24 hours. Many decisions will have to be made. A person with no serious desire to live for the Lord can just “go
with the flow.” He’ll likely make
choices that will be most beneficial to himself. She’ll be “looking out for number one.”
But we who belong to the Lord and
desire to live for Him will be looking for ways to serve Him by sharing His
love with others. We’ll be looking for
ways to bring honor to His name. We’ll
be keeping our eyes open for ways to pay Him homage. We’ll be listening for opportunities to stand up for Jesus.
Bottom line: Because we know that
this new day is a gift from God, we want to live it to His glory. May we do so – that Jesus Christ be praised!
Pastor Carl Henkel