After watching some of our daughter's holiday Instagram stories of her and her boyfriend having a great day, I was thinking about how quickly a day goes by and how we often want our whole day to be great, with not a single moment of mishap or anything not going to plan. We wish every day could play out like a perfect holiday video.
There are days, and hopefully, lots of them, when everything goes smoothly, but there are also days with moments that can be downright awful. Some of these don't impact how we live the rest of our lives, but others will have the potential to define our future and change our lives.
I've learning to keep it all in perspective and to try to be grateful for every day. God encourages us to remain focused on the moments we want to remember and to learn and grow from everything else, including the difficult seasons we may go through.
Plus, it's really important not to lump whole days in the good or bad pile simply because some moments in our day were great, and some were terrible. We must take each moment and value it for its worth, and if some things are terrible, recognise them for what they are and then give them to Jesus, ask Him to lift the burden of what we have experienced, and then focus on one of the better moments in our day.
It's just not practical to require that every single moment is going to be perfect, with all the people around us doing exactly the right thing all the time. Sometimes you will need to pivot and choose another tact or refocus your attention to keep going and still achieve what you set out to do.
I've also discovered that sometimes the less-than-perfect moments where you need to pivot a little are the ones you remember and learn the most from, which God uses to bring people together or uses to surprise us in some way pleasantly.
When we travelled to Europe a few years ago with five of our children, we had a series of unexpected events which didn't go to plan. I fainted on a London train as we were organising to pick up our vehicle to take us to the Lakes District in England. We'd booked all our accommodation for the night and thought everything was organised.
However, the paramedic at the train station took one look at me and said, "I think you are all going to get stuck in weekend traffic for 5-6 hours; go to Wales instead." So we set off to Wales, which was only two hours away. However, on arrival, we discovered every form of accommodation was booked out for the night, and we had nowhere to sleep. Not a great moment! Left with no alternative, we chose to sleep all seven of us in the car.
If you ask our children today what they remember from our trip, they would say their night in the car was a highlight. They will all start laughing and retelling their side of the story, who sleeps weirdly, and who doesn't. Our eldest son Ben will declare the loudest that he slept in the boot!
Through our night in the car, however, a lot of squabbling about who had to share a room with whom was sorted out, and a new appreciation for a comfy bed was gained. Perspective and thankfulness are brilliant things, and it's often in these memorable moments when things don't go to plan that we discover them.
As the saying goes, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass… It's about learning to dance in the rain."
The Bible says to give thanks in everything. That doesn't mean we see the terrible moments in life as something He has sent us. Instead, it means that IN everything, we give thanks believing that He can and will turn things around for us and never to let go of our confidence in His love and goodness towards us.
"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. "(1 Thessalonians 5:18)
I encourage you don't write off a day or a person, for that matter, because of a few bad moments or hurtful experiences. God is phenomenal at making all things work together for our good, and it's wisdom for us to stop, breathe, trust Him, and be thankful for the gift we have to live in this moment.
"Life is made up of moments. Moments create days, days create months, months create years, and years create life. So enjoy the moments!"
Prayer: Lord, thank you that you have my life in your hands and that everything will be all right with you. Please help me to enjoy the great moments in my day and to stop and be thankful for them. When not-so-great moments occur, please also help me to give them over to you so that you can help me through in Jesus Name, Amen.