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What’s a Good Day?

Wonder how many times we’ve said to someone, “Have a good day”, or asked, “What kind of a day did you have”; or “How’s you’re day going?”

Also wondering how our  take would look 100 years from now on any given day we’d been given the privilege of living.

Just for kicks, was listening to a couple of sports jocks on radio the other day asking listeners what they did to try to salvage a day after their favorite team lost a game. They  got into it as if, having a losing team must be a really big emotional issue for a lot of people who’ve had their money or pride pinned to a loser.

Am thinking, that it might be worthwhile to have an honest discussion about what we really think a good day would be, and whether or not our take on it could be realistic,  insightful, and considerate enough to help those who are quite sure that they’re having a bad day.


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33 Responses to “What’s a Good Day?”

  1. remarutho says:

    Good Morning Mart!

    Being more a “morning glory” than a “night bloomer,” I am usually careful to greet folk with something fairly neutral, until I get to hear what a person has to say about the day, the month, the year in general – or even life itself. I understand it can be annoying to have somebody around being too chipper and upbeat. My standard greeting is, “Hi, how’s your day?”

    Prayer with and for those who are feeling swamped by circumstances is usually a blessing to me. I am grateful I could show up for a moment of encouragement. I recently experienced a prayer meeting with a preacher who travels speaking and praying with churches interested in intercession and a prayer ministry in their community or area. His tag line is: “Less Talk, More Prayer!”

    For folks who don’t pray and decline prayer, I offer a blessing of hope for God’s provision. Some people are mighty prickly on the issue of prayer – unless they are in a life-changing crisis. Most people will gratefully receive the prayer of faith at such a time. (James 5:15)

    A day bathed in prayer is a good day. The Lord can have his way with us when we wait before the throne of grace with hopeful expectation. Such an position is a “win.” It seems to me we lose when we soldier on depending upon our own puny power.

    Blessings,
    Maru

  2. SFDBWV says:

    Ok Mart I have to admit my first response to your question is that a good day is any day that something bad doesn’t happen. However like most seemingly simple questions there is usually a variety of complex answers.

    Psalms 118: 24 tells us that every day is a reason to rejoice. Yet like the last subject sometimes I have to look for those reasons.

    In truth I find reasons to rejoice every day, but everyday I have to do so in spite of the circumstances around me.

    Matthew wakes up every morning unhappy hating that nothing has changed and angry at a world that disappoints him and makes him feel that death would be better.

    His good days are distractions that give him little victories over goals he has set for himself that day.

    My good days are that we are still able to be together.

    When a person is diagnosed with cancer, is it a good day?
    When someone is suddenly taken from you, is it a good day?
    When you watch someone you love wither away lose hope, lose faith and long for death, is it a good day?

    For me it is all about faith, all about believing God and believing the promises the scripture gives. Sometimes the only good thing about a day is believing that tomorrow will be better (Psalms 30: 5). Sometimes only having Revelation 2:25 to hold on to.

    As anyone who suffers can tell you hearing of another suffering more than you doesn’t really lessen the suffering you experience, maybe momentarily take your eyes off yourself and feel the pain of another.

    Steve

  3. yooperjack says:

    Mart: I consider it a good day and not wasted when I can get something done, like, rake the lawn, work on a project or help a neighbor.

    “How’s it going” or “Hi” is my greeting coming in and “Have a good one” or “See yah” going out.

    I’m not good around people that are having a bad day. I may ask if there is anything I can help with and if they want me to pray for them? I hate funerals and hospital visits I feel I don’t know what to say? I still go but try not to say too much and just show my face and leave. It’s easier if the sick or dead person is saved. I know I’m not alone on this.

    I thank the Lord for every day and tell Him how blessed I am to live in the Copper Country.

  4. oneg2dblu says:

    Mart, you’ve asked, “What’s a good day?” My earthly father would say, “Any day you are up and taking nurishment is a good day.” Then, I had a father-in-law who used to say, “Any day I move my bowels is a good day.” One focused on the intake and the other on the exhaust. I want to express the other two elements of internal combustion, the Compression and the Power!
    I guess every person has their own way of saying where their life meets the pavement of living.
    For me it is found in the awakened knowledge of the Presence of the Holy Spirit that lives in me, that which gives me “today to live” again as be His.
    But, do I ever express that very thing to everyone I meet? Knowing I may be the only bible someone will get to read today. I may be the only Christ Follower they get to see today, and mostly I will fail them and myself today, but for the awakened knowledge do a breath and live today for I am His and I get only today to show Him and this world. “Lord give me the Grace to recieve others, to explain the unknown, and to live rightly in your ways.” Perhaps today! Gary

  5. SFDBWV says:

    There was a terrible house fire in Charleston WV Saturday morning that killed 9 people. The story I want to share with you all this morning is the front page story in the Cumberland Times.

    Bear with me as I am quoting directly from the front page story and reducing it for our purposes.

    “As Talma Isabell coped with the crushing heartache of losing her daughter and 5 grandchildren, several dozen people surrounded Talma and her family at church Sunday with their arms raised and their heads bowed in prayer.”

    “Pastor Darren Powell described how he went to the hospital a few hours after the fire to be with Isabell. He said there was little he could do or say, but told her he wanted to let her know her family was in the churches prayers.”

    “She said, Pastor, I am standing on my foundation, Jesus Christ. Powell said, I am telling you, I went there trying to be a help and encouragement, and instead she encouraged me.”

    “Powell then thanked Isabell for her strength, courage and faith. In the midst of tragedy and turmoil, you are being a great witness for your King and your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Powell said.”

    Front page story Cumberland Times (Cumberland MD); I am saddened for this family, and happy to see Christ lifted up on the front page of a newspaper, someone needed to read this story and needed to hear a witness of Christ’s ability to heal a broken heart.

    Steve

  6. fadingman says:

    I ask my wife (and she me) at the start of our day, “Are you going to have a good day?” This usual response is, “Of course I am!” It’s another day God has made.

    However, sometimes at the end of the day, we feel it’s been a difficult one and we’re glad it’s over.

    From these experiences, I’ve been trying to redefine my idea of a “good day” to conform to how God would define it. Knowing that He works all things out in my life for goodness (not just to me personally but for His overall plan for all of what He’s created), to know I have had a good day requires a lot more faith some days than others. They’re all good days, whether I see it or not.

  7. yooperjack says:

    Mart: This may be off topic but must be stated. Dennis Fishers post on ODB today really got my dandruff up. The Bible says we can speak life and death to our self; yet this girl prophesied cancer to her self then when it happened said God prepared her for it. “GIVE ME A BREAK.” That is stinking thinking. It would have even been better for her to “speak” to that cancer in the name of Jesus to get out of the temple of God. Then thank God for His power to do so. If she had proper training in the Word of God, that cancer would have never entered her body in the first place.

    What are they teaching in these Churches today? Christians should know better, that our words are very powerful. I’ve already heard people say God allowed me the get cancer or whatever, so I can glorify Him. That is nuts, would you give your child cancer for any reason. Of course not and neither does God.

    Christians suffer so unnecessarily because of ignorance. It’s this kind of stuff that gives me a bad…….Can’t say it. LOL

    Tell Dennis Fisher sorry but that was not a good post in my way of thinking. I like my horse to pull the cart not the other way around and keep those barn doors shut.

  8. BruceC says:

    I would say that everyday that one lives in Christ is a “good” day. But that does not mean that every day is an easy day or a pleasant day. We do have many days of trial, hardship, and let down; but Christ is with us through it all.

    Yooper,

    Ya need to calm down and have a cup of coffee or take a nap. Don’t think RBC needs to find a new editor; do you?
    Wonder why Paul didn’t speak to the thorn in his flesh and command it to leave. I asked some folks that think as you do if there were any 150 year old Christians they knew of and if not; why not? All they have to do is speak to the disease and have faith and….maybe they would live for centuries. Have a friend that thinks along those lines and can’t understand why his friend that was prayed for died, or why his second marriage fell apart after a gifted woman prophesied happiness. His wife left in one month.
    Our will never trumps His will and He can do as He pleases in the lives of men. It is always for His glory and not our own.

    So please; give us a break.

    BruceC
    Soli Deo Gloria!

  9. SFDBWV says:

    Bill Maury and Andie Macdowell starred in a movie several years back titled “Groundhog Day”.

    It is one of those stories that educates as it entertains.

    After an eternity of repeating the same day over and over again, experiencing pleasures and pains, in the end a perfect day was the day that Bill did everything he could to see to it that everyone else had a perfect day.

    His good day ended up having nothing to do with him and everything to do with the needs of others.

    The one thing he couldn’t change was the death of an old beggar, all he could do was make the old man’s last day a good one.

    Steve

  10. yooperjack says:

    BruceC: Paul would have had to give up his ministry if he had that thorn removed. So he sacrificed the anguish for souls. Gods grace was sufficient for him.

    This is off topic but because you asked about Paul…..

  11. BruceC says:

    No where does it say in scripture that he would have had to give up his ministry; just that the thorn kept him humble. And humility made him effective for Christ.

    And the rest of the post you didn’t answer.
    I could have given more examples of things I have seen and heard over the years but it would have been to large a post.

    God bless everyone today.

    BruceC
    Soli Deo Gloria!

  12. BruceC says:

    You should have thought about off-topic when you made that comment about Dennis Fischer’s Daily Bread article.

    BruceC
    Soli Deo Gloria!

  13. yooperjack says:

    My off topic post was addressed to Mart no one else. “Sorry” can’t tell you any more.

  14. poohpity says:

    A bad day starts when I am on the way to the coffee maker and step on a land mine (fur ball explosion). Those cats never warn you before your naked toe steps in it and slides, yuk. At that time I think, is this going to be how the day is going to go. lol

    A good day for me is a day when I can bring joy to just one person. That means for me, a smile when grocery shopping which others seem to smile back, or listening to a neighbor when they want a listening ear, being able to go to the movie and eat popcorn, yum, helping someone with a ride or just anything in a day where I can do a random act of kindness in some sort or another. That makes any day a good day even after stepping on a land mine.

  15. poohpity says:

    The bad part of the land mines is the lack of ability to reach my toes while standing up to clean them, lol.

  16. poohpity says:

    As my aunt also says, “Make a good day”!!

  17. saled says:

    Every year about this time I get asked by one of the children at school, “What’s Good Friday?” They see this in the planners where they write their assignments, and haven’t heard the term elsewhere. Over the years, I have become more brave, and now I answer, “It’s the day that Jesus died on the cross.”

    And that Friday was as wonderful as it was terrible.

  18. poohpity says:

    Yea, for school planners. :-)

  19. davids says:

    Happily, at this point in my life, most days are good days. In my daily prayers, I thank God for shelter and provision, teachers and coaches, health, the peace and security that we enjoy, family and friends, and for the blessings of each season.

    I rarely need to pray for myself or close family, but only for relatives, friends, people in our congregation, many of you here, and those in the world that are suffering.

    A bad day is when I know I have hurt others through my impatience, attitude, words, or actions. But it is not really bad because I know that I can bring it to the foot of the cross.

  20. oneg2dblu says:

    saled… give then some more time they’ll change it. Remeber when it was Christmas instead of Winterbreak?
    I would love to tell those kids Good Friday was the first of the three days that changed the world forever!
    Of course, then you would have to tell the rest of the story… :)

  21. oneg2dblu says:

    yooperjack… sounds like you chose to have a bad start for your day today.
    We don’t get to speak sickness or anything else into our bodies, or speak eternal life into them either. That is God’s territory, if I remember correctly He spoke the universe into being… Man alone brought about sickness and death into the world by his own free will choice of disobedience. Before that time, we were going to live forever, without sickness, without disease, without sin, and the like. I hope you have a better start to your day tomorrow, but of course that will be your free will choice again won’t it, and Praise God we still get to make it. Gary

  22. yooperjack says:

    Gary: because you asked, I had a very good day today even though you spoke a bad day over me. And I expect a very good day tomorrow.

    You see I was thankful for free speech and that Mart lets me practice it on his blog. I pray that we never loose free speech. With hate crimes being brought to the front on national news; the time may come when preaching the Word of God may be a crime. People will be in fear of writing the truth and end up in jail.

    You have a good one Gary.

  23. Regina says:

    Good Evening All,

    Hope all is well with you all today. Mart, Your intro-comment:
    “Am thinking, that it might be worthwhile to have an honest discussion about what we really think a good day would be, and whether or not our take on it could be realistic, insightful, and considerate enough to help those who are quite sure that they’re having a bad day.”

    brought this Bible passage to mind… 1 Sam. 30:1-6
    “1) David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, 2) and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.
    3) When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4) So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 5) David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6) David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. *But David found strength in the LORD his God.*

    I think it takes strength and courage to *encourage yourself* when you’re having a bad day. Joshua 1 (entire chapter) also comes to mind because the LORD kept reminding Joshua to be strong and courageous!

    Beautiful, sunny weather in Texas today (low 80’s).

    ps. Thank you Inhishands & poohpity for the Happy Birthday wishes. :-)

    Love to all…

  24. Regina says:

    *and the birthday blessings!

  25. phpatato says:

    I had almost completed a lengthy comment on my experience of good days/bad days when it went missing somewhere in cyberspace. It entailed my 15 year war with chronic clinical depression, and the sorted array of anti depressant drugs (7 different kinds plus an “enhancer”) that I had been prescribed. I called it my journey to hell and back and the scars in my life to prove it.

    Over that long, dark and debilitating 15 year period, I was told that (not my good day but) my best day wouldn’t equal someone’s ho-hum day, and there just aren’t enough descriptive adjectives to describe how dark my bad days were.

    One of my scars as a result of those “brain stimulating” anti depressant drugs is memory loss. I can only remember bits and pieces of my children’s childhoods. I can’t read anymore either. What I read today will be forgotten tomorrow. My Bible reading is an extreme challenge because I simply can’t remember what I read the day before. I find I have to reread what I read before I can move on. Reading books and novels I don’t do because it frustrates me so. So please, embark upon the Read a Bible in a Year journey and realize just how lucky you are to be able to do that.

    Mart you said “Am thinking, that it might be worthwhile to have an honest discussion about what we really think a good day would be”……I couldn’t tell you what a good day would be like. I spent far too many days thinking that I would never smile again.

    And as for today???? I can’t honestly, honestly tell you. Let me just say that I don’t get excited too often over anything much. It seems as though I have a lot of ho-hum days. But I praise God for ho-hum days because that’s far better than what my best days were.

  26. poohpity says:

    Pat, first I would like to say thank you so much for sharing that with us. Second I would like you to know I am so sad you have to go through depression. I understand the disease and what it does to individuals from my own life and a family that has had that thorn as well. David from the bible seemed to have suffered from it as well from the words and descriptions he used while writing the Psalms. What is level ground for most people is a hard climb for those with depression. I do not think I have any words that would bring the comfort I would love to give you.

    One thing I do know is that while reading the bible God promised us that His word will never return void so that makes me think that even if we can not remember what we have read it is still in there and will come out when we need it.

    To someone with depression ho-hum is good compared to the alternatives. You are in my prayers and my heart.

  27. Elisabeth says:

    Morning everyone!

    This is a good question. For me personally, a good day is one where I am acutely aware that everything going on has a purpose. If I think I know what that is, so much the better. Even if it’s fraught with issues, as long as I know it’s leading someplace, I count it as a good day. Yeah, I know, I’m a bit of a control freak! Not really though, because I find that once I can remember that God is involved in all the events and that nothing goes on without His knowledge, I can get past the initial feels of helplessness. Wish I could say it’s second nature to do that, but I am on the road “there.”

  28. Elisabeth says:

    @ Pat

    I am really sad to hear of what you’re going through. I have suffered from depression over the last few years myself and know that it is not easy. I do encourage you though that even in the darkest moments, that God is there with His love and those reminders is what helps me get through.

    I ahve always found the darker Psalms and the story of Job are a great help. People in the Bible who went through similar and it’s reassuring to know that the same God is here for us individually and personally as well, even when our loved ones don’t get it.

  29. isaiah43123 says:

    A good day is one described in Romans 8:28, God working within the circumstances to bring about the best, which is every day for believers.
    Keep the Faith!

  30. poohpity says:

    I was so thankful for counseling. It seemed that I could never get on the right meds so in 2007 I went off all of them for depression and went into some pretty good counseling and with the Lord’s help I am able to do each day now with a time for depression but on a whole it was my thoughts that were causing a lot of it. I can not say enough about many counselors and that is not excluding the counsel of the Lord.

  31. phpatato says:

    Thank you Pooh and Elisabeth for the encouraging words!!

    I’m so sorry. I may have mislead you. I crawled into bed after posting last night and realized that I didn’t give a proper time span.

    The depression started in my mid 30s and lasted 15 years or so, give or take. I weaned myself off Effexor XR (without doctor approval) and have been drug free for about 8 years now. Doctors suspect that it began as undiagnosed postpartum depression that just rooted itself deeper.

    I was at rock bottom both physically and emotionally. Drugs weren’t working. I had nowhere to turn. I was desperate. Suicide was always lurking – that jeering taunting monster always in my thoughts. It’s only for the Grace of God and the tear-filled prayers of a loving Christian mother that got me through . James 5:16 The effectual fervent prayer of my precious mom did availeth much.

    Psalm 40:2 !!! HE LOVED ME. HE SAVED ME.

    It took about 5 of the last 8 years for that fog to slowly lift. I can actually see colour in my world now. I feel I’m climbing more rungs of the ladder. There IS Victory in Jesus!!!!!

    Mart – I am sorry if I took this post in a direction that wasn’t intended.

  32. poohpity says:

    You have turned my sadness into joy. The prayers of a mom are also what brought me out of the drug world I know how strong they are. Enjoy the color and thanks for filling us in on how the story is unfolding. :-) There is victory in Jesus, Amen!

  33. oneg2dblu says:

    yooperjack… in your 6:02 response you said I spoke “over you” when I was only repeating what you had said earlier “This kind of stuff gives me a bad day.”
    when commenting/complaining about the ODJ entry. Sorry I took you words to mean what they said, I should have known better. LOL I hope you have a good day also. Gary

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