Perspective

I was having a bad day (or so I thought). Students at school were not overly concerned about their upcoming files. I had a headache and a cough left over from a sinus infection that I contracted 3 weeks ago, and my laptop with all my files decided that it was time to stop living life.

I wanted to wake up early that morning before school to read the Bible and pray but I have been very tired lately from the sinus infection and the various drugs used to combat it. I hit the snooze button too many times which frustrated me, especially since I had to take out the trash that morning which meant a rushed exit out the door to get to school on time after my 45 minute trip. This was my second to last week of the school year (and forever but more on that in the next post) and I have grown completely tired of making that long trip to the job that I have grown to hate going to.

I decided that, while in my not very good mood, that I needed to take five to ten minutes and give them to the Lord. I wanted to give Him more but that is what I had left myself with to offer. I said a quick prayer and asked Him to give me something that I could use to get me through the rest of the day. Psalm 23 popped into my head. Everyone knows this Psalm. I turned to the page where it was, or so I thought, and my eyes must have played tricks on me. I started reading and thought to myself, "This doesn't sound like Psalm 23?" I kept reading and realized that I started reading Psalm 22. For those of you who aren't familiar with Psalm 22, it is possible the amazing of all the Psalms. It was written by David but contains the prophetic words and thoughts of Jesus as He was hanging on the Cross.

So, here I was, having my "terrible day" in a "horrible mood" because of all the stuff that was going wrong reading a Psalm about our perfect and innocent Savior hanging on a cross waiting to die. As I finished the Psalm, I started laughing to myself and a smile broke out on my face.

Huh, you might ask? How could you laugh and smile about the Psalm where Jesus was crucified? I laughed because the Lord, the one who hung on the cross that day, gave me a little dose of perspective. No matter how bad I thought things were going for me at that point, things were much worse for Him on His worst day. He did nothing wrong, was nailed to a piece of wood after being whipped, and was executed in the most horrific way yet prayed for those who were doing this to Him as He hung there. He did it willfully and did it without getting angry.

If He could do that, I can deal with a sinus infection, a broken laptop, and a less than ideal job. I really had nothing to complain about or to be upset about. He also showed me that He does not need an hour at the beginning of my day to give me what He needs. He just needs me to slow down, give Him the first part of my day, and seek Him before I go out. If I hadn't given Him those five to ten minutes I would have gone out the rest of the day angry and frustrated. Instead, I left the house with a smile on my face and worry free about my laptop.