Remember Alexander who had the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day? Some days, troubles come in herds. As I was recovering from an illness, I offered to run to the grocery store for Melanie. Looking at our garage, I realized something was off. I pushed the button to open it and pieces started flying and jingling as they hit the ground. The garage door left its tracks and dangled precipitously a few inches above the roof of my car and a few feet over the roof of Melanie’s car. I love my ten-year-old car and Melanie’s twelve year old car, but I love them more without the dents of a garage door on the roof. I knew in that moment that my plans for the day were going to change. I couldn’t get away. Both cars were trapped in the garage.
We may assume that people who have good devotional times never have bad days. This is not true. Paul and Barnabas were working hard in Iconium when their opponents from other cities arrived. Before long, these detractors took Paul outside the city and started throwing rocks at him. This was worse than my day and Alexander’s day combined! Luke does not cloak the irony of Paul, who had helped with Stephen’s stoning, facing flying rocks himself. These enemies of God’s work eventually left Paul for dead.
Paul woke up with a little help from his friends. These disciples, who believed in resurrection, gathered around Paul. Don’t you know they were praying? Imagine their joy when Paul stood up and went back into the city. God saved Paul’s life again that day. Then he and Barnabas left for Derbe. Dr. Julio Ruibal led a prayer movement in South America. When drug cartels threatened his life, Julio said, “I am immortal until God is finished with me.” After leading an amazing revival, he was martyred. But not before he had accomplished God’s plan for his life. What if our worst days are really our best opportunities to trust God? The Psalmist wrote, “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Paul would later write, “That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, and in difficulties. When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Because God’s grace is sufficient for us, even our bad days become good.
