by RTF Assistant Editor Halee Matthews

Sometimes I have bad days.

Don’t we all?

A bad day is like the furry, big-teethed monster under the bed that we feared as children. It grabs us and pulls us down into the depths. It manifests itself as an uncooperative alarm clock that maliciously refuses to beep on time. It’s the little old lady in the car in front of us who stubbornly pokes along at 10 mph under the speed limit.

These are the days that try to suck the life out of us and threaten our faith. It’s as if they plot and plan ways to make us miserable.

Or maybe that’s just us.

Maybe these days have nothing against us. Maybe our alarm clocks are not malicious, only malfunctioning. Maybe the little old lady was just being incredibly cautious.

Isn’t it so easy to imagine the world is against us? We’re the innocent, defenseless victims who are just trying to live our lives, just trying to hold onto a bit of happiness. And how can we possibly do that while running late or getting stuck in traffic?

What fickle creatures we are! One day we may be floating because of a good grade and a kind word from a friend. We thank God and embrace life, ready to face the world.

Then the next day begins a little too late, we can’t find anything to wear, and we are shaken to the core. Oh us of little faith! All it takes is one bad day and our entire belief system is shaken.

But then I think about other people who had some really bad days. In fact, I don’t think our days even measure up (or down) to those bad days:

Nelson Mandela had a whole string of bad days while he was in prison for 27 years. I bet William Tyndale would have loved to have a simple alarm clock problem when he was burned at the stake for sharing the Bible. No doubt the millions of people killed in the Holocaust would have preferred to deal with traffic instead. How about the other millions of people who were killed for standing up for their beliefs or their country (including people in the Bible)? We could go on forever, but you get the point.

It kinda puts things in perspective. I mean, how can we truly consider our days bad? What criteria do we use to make that determination? A simple, moody alarm clock? Compared to some truly bad days, our furry, big-teethed monsters look a bit more like teddy bears.

So I’m going to be thankful for my bad days (which really aren’t too horrible at all!). I’m going to keep a clear perspective and thank God I’ve never been persecuted for my faith.

And as bad as my day may get, I will remember- I am alive! I own a marvelous gift, and I worship an amazing God who is always good. So I’m not going to let anyone shake my faith, bad day or not.