Riding Out the Rough Days

I'm not sure what it is, but I am exhausted this week.  My eyelids seem to want to shut at the most inopportune times and my patience is frayed beyond recognition.  It goes without saying that the combination is NOT GOOD!

Both yesterday and today I found myself at moments verging on despair.  With frustration and emotions that were a bit out of control, I cried out to the Lord, "Why am I so tired?!?!"  The "I can't..." statements were just about to stampede out of my mouth when He stopped me and gave me some much needed perspective.

Suddenly it became clear to me that being tired and running low on the patience I need each day is not a permanent situation.  It's also not a circumstance that requires freaking out.  It's not a crisis.  It's not the end of the world.  It's just a rough day.

And guess Who can handle my rough days?  God is so much bigger than pregnancy hormones, eyes that won't stay open, and the times I must seek forgiveness from my children for getting frustrated when I should have responded lovingly to them.  He can handle it, especially when I can't.  Praise the Lord!

You might be thinking, "Well, that's just great.  Of course God can handle the bad days.  But how do I get through them?  What am I supposed to do?"

Just ride it out.

That's right.  Ride.  It.  Out.

But not on your own strength.  Take a ride on God's grace.  Pray when you're feeling overwhelmed.  And then keep trekking along.  Use the wisdom He has given you to make changes to your day if necessary.  And then keeping going.

The apostle Paul reminds us of how to perceive our weaknesses.  Should we despair on those rough days?  Should we give up or grow angry that things aren't going like we want them to?  Should we allow our emotions (hormone-driven or not) to take over and lead us into sin?  No.  We can boast in our weaknesses - in our rough days - because they are giving us the opportunity to lean more fully on Christ.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."                         -2 Corinthians 12:9

I can't fully classify today as a rough day.  Things are going like they usually go - mostly smooth with a few choppy patches.  But I am tired and for reasons that I will attribute to pregnancy hormones and exhaustion, I could probably burst into tears at any moment.  But I will not despair.  I will keep riding out the day's ups and downs, relying on Christ's all-sufficient grace.  And I'm sure that once the day comes to an end I'll have more than one or two testimonies of God's power resting on me.

So, how do you handle rough days?  Do you give up in despair or look forward with hope?