Skip to main content

There are No Perfect Days


You go to the doctor with a strange, gnawing pain in your abdomen. They run a battery of tests and tell you that "everything is normal." Good news, right? Except that you're still in pain. If it weren't for the pain, you'd be having a perfect day.

You drive to the Christian school to pick up your tribe of students. One of them is being escorted to the van by his teacher. "There's a note for you in his backpack," the teacher says with a tense look on her face. Up until that backpack with the naughty-note, you were having a perfect day.

You're anticipating a wonderful vacation, but the sky outside looks ominously gray. When you wake up in the morning, everything outside is buried under three feet of snow. The airport is closed, not to mention many of the major roads. Not a great way to start what was supposed to be a perfect day.

What is the definition of a "perfect day"? Is it a day free from trouble? There is no such day, so let's try writing a definition that is more realistic:

A PERFECTLY IMPERFECT DAY: A day of contentment, regardless of situations or circumstances.

Here are some "contentment quotes" to reinforce our need for this important character quality:
  • “The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."--Martha Washington
  • “You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled.”--Charles H. Spurgeon
  • “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition."--Jeremiah Burroughs
It is true that character, temperament and personality all have a profound effect on how we view life and how we react to our constantly-changing conditions and situations. It is also true that we will never have enough if we are constantly chasing "just one more thing." And we'll never find contentment in this life if we won't trust God to guide and direct us.

We never know from one moment to the next what God has in store for us, but we do know that He cares. Instead of seeing unplanned events as an enemy invasion, we could choose to view it as an insert from our heavenly Father, and we could aim to demonstrate an excellent spirit. If it's not okay with us for God to alter the course of our day, we're on the throne of self-direction. "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." (Phil. 4:11) If the Apostle Paul could master contentment, we can do it, too. There are no perfect days on this side of heaven. Nice days, but not perfect.

So are you having a perfectly imperfect day? Me, too. And it is well with my soul. How about yours?

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." (I Tim. 6:6-8)





Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 25, 2012 at 11:46 AM

    I guess it is becoming my personal quote, but I often say, "The greatest gifts from God come in the most unusual wrapping paper."

    Sometimes I have to look up and say, "Wow, Lord, I can't WAIT to see what You have for me inside this box because it is the strangest thing to find joy in that I could ever imagine!" So far, He has never failed to let me see the joyful blessings that can come even through some of the tough stuff. Sometimes it takes a while, but the joyful gift, the "perfect day", is always worth waiting through the tearing of the wrapping paper! Love this one, Mrs. Francie!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Parents Are Not Responsible for That

Parenthood is not a role for wimps or whiners. There are the exciting times such as music recitals, sports tournaments, and graduations. But if your tribe is like ours, you've probably also had the maddening moments, like the time one of our children discovered how to unfasten the tapes on his diaper and used the contents as "chalk" on the bedroom  wall (yes, it was "his," so that narrows the field of suspects). Children are young for a few blinks, and then we spin around and we're hearing "Pomp and Circumstance," that familiar graduation march as our "babies" walk down the aisle in cap and gown. If they choose to go on to college, four snaps later, we're sitting in the auditorium at their college graduation, scanning a long list of names in the commencement bulletin while waiting to watch them walk across the platform to receive yet another diploma. It's warp-speed fast (except that diaper stage). Parents don't min...
45 comments
Read more

Why Abishag and Not Bathsheba?

When you read Bible stories, do you ever wonder about things? I often wonder, and one story on my "wonder list" is the account of the aged King David and his lovely young caregiver named Abishag. David already had plenty of wives, including one very beautiful stolen wife named Bathsheba. When David was struggling to stay warm (Scripture says "he got no heat"), why didn't he call for Bathsheba? I wonder...and I'm going to hazard a guess that they had grown apart over the years. I can't prove it, but it can't be conclusively denied, either. Here's the Scriptural account, to refresh your memory: "Now kind David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. So they sought for a fa...
5 comments
Read more

Wait-Hate

Sitting at what I was sure was the world's longest left-turn signal, I suddenly realized that I was being impatient for no good reason. After all, I was only waiting to turn left and then right...into the gas station. Not exactly like being late for an important date! Wait hate. Many of us struggle with it, and the impatience is making life unnecessarily miserable. Why do we hate to wait? I have some theories and good guesses, but it is possible that one of the biggest reasons why we can't even tolerate driving in a lane with a slow car in front of us is because we've been trained by our culture to expect everything instantly. Have you ever been "that person," driving and yelling "Move over, Pokey Joe!" even though your windows were closed and that other driver couldn't hear you? Tap. Swipe. Send.  Wait-Hate is learned, and this impatience is very costly. Instead of praying and allowing God time to provide direction and confirm...
22 comments
Read more