Handling the bad days

By Rob Hurtgen

One of my favorite books to read with my children is "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." The story follows one day in Alexander's life where everything goes so bad that all he wants to do is move to Australia.

The reason this book is a children's classic is because everyone can relate to Alexander. We all have had days when what we expect to happen does not, and what we do not expect to happen, does. There are many Psalms in the Bible where the writer has experienced those same emotions. How the Psalmist responds gives us some insight to surviving those good-for-nothing days.

Clarify what has happened. There are all sorts of causes for terrible, no-good, bad days: sleeping with gum in your hair; the car breaks down; your perfect child who never does anything wrong gets expelled from school. There are so many ways a good day can turn bad.

When the theme of the day is rotten, it is important to clarify what happened and how you feel about it. The Psalms reflect the emotion of anger when good happens to an evil person and evil happens to a good person. When an enemy gets the upper hand, the psalmist speaks clearly about what happened and how they feel about it. That raw emotion is not condemned, criticized or celebrated. It is spoken. It is clarified.

Identify what you can control. There are things that happen that are completely out of your control. The only option we have is to identify what we can control. I cannot control being rear-ended in my car. I can control what I say to the person who collided with me. For those rotten days, it is important not to dwell on what you cannot control but identify what you can control.

Those things you have no influence on, release them. The psalmists voice their pain and frustration but leave the results to the Lord. They release what happens to the Lord. They say, "This rotten thing has happened, but I release what comes of it to you."

When you are having a terrible, no-good, bad day, tell God about it. The immediate circumstances may not change. Now, though, you have the Lord alongside you in it. He receives it, and his peace shelters you. He's big enough to handle your worst day.