Grace for One of Those Days

By Kimm Crandell

The sticker on the back of the jeep in front of me threatens to crush my weak spirit. It has the words, “No Bad Days” encased in a fish outline alluding to the fact that there are no bad days with Christ.

What? No bad days?

The guilt and condemnation pour over me as I think about the “bad day” that I was having. What had I done wrong? Perhaps it’s my pessimism coming to a head again. Maybe I just needed a more positive attitude. Or maybe God was punishing me for my unkindness to my children as we were getting ready for school that morning. I should have kept my mouth shut. I should have prayed and asked God for patience before entering into a discussion with my daughter about her unbrushed hair.

Then there was the broken dishwasher, the mess from the dog and the unruly rooster that attacked my daughter, drawing blood from her leg. I saw her heading to the office for a band-aid when I pulled away from the school wondering why I had failed to offer her one before we left the house.

And as I sought to sleep off my frustration and annoyance of the day with a quick nap, my husband announced that the school called to say that my son may have broken his arm and needed to go to the emergency room. In an instant my feelings of what had transpired over the course of the day came out in one tired, selfish word, “Seriously?”

Perhaps you have had a day like mine recently, so full of chaos that you can’t seem to escape. Nothing catastrophic has happened yet enough little mishaps to label it a bad day.

Or maybe it’s been one of those days that the tears sit in the gutter along your lower lid waiting for a blink to push them out. One of those days that you rack your brain to find an explanation for your urge to fall apart; a continual holding it together hoping to avoid a trigger because if you cry you can’t say why. You know…just one of those days.

He Had “Bad” Days

If you are like me you may believe that you are the only one who has days like these. You may look at others in life and only see “No Bad Days” stickers plastered across their foreheads. You believe the lie that if you are in Christ you are not allowed bad days. You may have been misled to think that once saved your life would simply be a tip-toe through the tulips and you wonder where you have gone wrong.

Maybe you believe that your bad days are a punishment for your sin. As if you are finally getting what you deserve from God but deep down you know that you deserve far worse. If that is the case please rest in Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” There is no wrath left for you and the unraveling of your day is never a barometer of God’s affection. In fact, as our days start to spin out of control we can be assured that because we now have Christ’s righteousness God continues to be as pleased with us as he is with his Son.

We know that Jesus had bad days. We know that his life was not one of luxury and ease. But the greatest knowledge that we have is that he not once responded with a snarky, “Seriously?” as trouble came upon him (Hebrews 4:15). In love he moved through the difficulty of his days showing grace and forgiveness to those around him. His every response to challenges was met with the peace that we all long for. A perfect example of who we all desire to be.

This history of a life lived in pure undefiled love; a life so at peace that frustration and annoyance could not dwell, is now your life if you believe the truth of Galatians 2:20:  “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

My friends, please listen when I say that you are allowed to have bad days. It is in the midst of the bad days that our sin and weakness is magnified showcasing our desperate need for the strength of Christ. And these are often the days that he is most glorified as we are reminded of our need to be rescued.

God is the lover of those who have bad days. He loves to love you in your weakness. He pursues you in your pessimism. He desires you when you are undesirable. He loves you when you are unlovely. Believe that no matter what kind of day you have had, whether good or bad, that you remain his longed for beloved; His heart’s desire, His beautiful bride. And there is no sin or circumstance that will ever change that. Rest and be free. You are loved.

———————–

Kimm Crandall is a mother of four kids (12, 9, 7 and 5) who is never short on examples of how God has flooded her with the excessive grace that the gospel brings. She lives in the small town of Valley Center, CA on three acres where she does her best to embrace the chaos of the non-stop adventures that dirt, rocks, chickens and sheep can bring to a house full of kids. Kimm’s desire is to bring the much-​​needed freedom of the Gospel to other women who have been beaten down by the “try harder” and “do better” law through writing and speaking. Kimm and Justin, her husband of sixteen years, serve at Valley Center Community Church, a reformed congregation in their hometown.  When she is not on the basketball court, baseball field, beach or enjoying horses she can be found blogging at christinthechaos.com and faithlifewomen.com and http://cbmw.org/.