One 4-letter word everyone should use on a bad day!

I can’t tell you how many times I reached my limit, threw up my hands, and didn’t think I could take much more. 
 
It seemed the drought would never end, there was no light at the end of the tunnel, and the sun would not come out tomorrow.  

​Life is full of problems.  I’m dealing with mine and you’re dealing with yours.  Maybe you’re trying to get the rent paid, how to get the kids to do better in school, or how to get along with a boss that has less compassion than a hitman.
 
Maybe it’s more serious than that.  Perhaps you or someone you know is dealing with a health issue.  Maybe a good friend is battling an addiction.  Certainly, those problems are complicated and even life-threatening. 
 
But, whatever it is, life is going to hand you a struggle in some form or another every day, and if you aren’t prepared, it will leave you shouting your share of four-letter words. 
 
I tried everything I could think of to help me stay cool when the heat was on.  Deep breathing, counting to 10, and mind over matter--if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. 
 
None of that worked for me.
 
It took time, but eventually, I realized that life is never going to be everything I want it to be.  I’m going to have problems--some bigger than others--and sometimes a solution isn’t obvious.  If it’s not a bad day at work, then it’s a disagreement with someone, or that I backed into someone else’s car in the parking lot--as a matter of fact, that happened this week.
 
But, I finally managed to find something that did help me gain some perspective on how to handle the problems life dishes out—something I wish I had found much earlier in life. 
 
In the Bible, the book of Philippians gives us this little piece of advice:
 
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand…”  (Philippians 4:6-7a, NLT)
 
Pray--a four-letter word that has the power to change anything.
 
Before I re-committed my life to Christ, I didn’t know how to overcome frustrations in day-to-day life.  I just got angry and launched into a rant.  I’ll admit I’m still working to get better at handling a bad day. 
 
But, now I try to pray, and turn it over to God--which also means allowing him to provide the right solution at the right time. 
 
You have to trust that God will come through, even though the solution looks entirely different than the one you’re expecting.  Notice, the scripture I referenced above doesn’t promise you’ll always get what you think you need, but it does promise peace.
 
You’re going to have tough days and bad breaks.  You may even accidentally back into someone else’s car.  Use that as an opportunity to pray and give it over to God.  Then, take peace in knowing that he will cover you—even when you don’t know how.
 
Now, take a moment to leave a comment—let me know about a bad day or tough situation God handled for you.