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The Power of a Bad Day
Sarah Limardo
“... ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in
weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ
can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the
insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For
when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians
12:9-10, NLT)
I had a bad day. A friendship was tested, someone said
something that wasn’t true, and things at work didn’t go as I expected.
As I sat down at the end of the day and vented to my
husband, one thing stood out as my main issue with my not-so-good day: I didn’t
have control.
If I had control, I could have avoided confrontation with
my friend. I could have smoothed things over better or gone back to fix what
had gone wrong.
If I could have seen any of this coming, I might have done
more to avoid it. If only I had been more thorough at work, I wouldn’t have had
any problems. If only I could stop making mistakes.
When my thinking starts to spiral into despair, usually I
can snap out of it. This was one of the rare days when I couldn’t, and when I
woke up the next morning, the day before still hung on me like a fog.
Jumping into my Bible reminds me that it’s okay to not
have control over my circumstances.
No matter how uncomfortable I feel or how much I thrash
and fight to gain some semblance of my own power, it evades me, and it always
will.
In these moments of weakness, I often turn to
Ecclesiastes.
It’s arguably one of my favorite books, if not only for
the reminder that life has its storms and that, in the grand scheme of things,
what really matters is the Lord.
My attitude can affect a lot of how I view life, and it’s
here that Ecclesiastes gives me a way to correct my thinking.
“... It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their
work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept
their lot in life.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18)
I view these storms as opportunities to lean into God’s
strength with gratefulness for what he’s given me.
Because, like the author of Ecclesiastes says, it’s a
blessing and a gift of God to be able to enjoy what I do and accept my lot in
life. No matter my lot, God’s sovereignty gives me comfort and encourages my
faith.
I don’t despise my weakness and lack of control, but I
take comfort in the strength of God and his provision over my life. Where I
cannot sway a heart, he can.
Where I can’t make things go the way I want, God has a
plan in store that is better than I can imagine.
Lord, thank you for your Word and your wisdom. Thank you
for the comfort and promises we can find in the Bible, and help us to find our
strength in you when times get hard. Grow our faith and remind us that with
you, our hearts are made whole. Help us to see you beyond the bad days, and
bless us with the ability to enjoy our lives, and to praise you for all you’ve
done for us.
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Sarah Limardo is a Multi-media Associate Producer for The 700
Club, a co-host on CBN's
Prayer Warriors Podcast, and a writer.
She graduated from Regent
University in 2015 with a BA in English and creative writing. After graduation,
she began working at CBN and is currently working on her Master's degree in
Strategic Communication.
Sarah is passionate about
storytelling in whatever form it may take. Whether it be devotionals, blog
posts, short stories, or the novels growing dusty on her hard drive, she aims
to share positive and inspirational messages through her writing. You can find
more about her at her website.
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