Practical Tips for Getting Through Today

I just have to get through today.

Do you have ever have days like that? You know it’s going to be long. You know it’s going to be hard. But you just have to get through it.

I’ve been dreading today all week long. I have to do a 12 hour noon to midnight shift at a hospital that’s not my main place of work. I am absolutely positively dreading it. I don’t like the way the shift eats up the entire day and evening. I don’t like the set up at that hospital. And I am just dreading it.

What can you do to make a bad situation good? How can you do more than just endure a day such as the one I’m facing today? How can you be a blessing to others even in the middle of what feels like a death sentence?

Sure, one option is to quit. Just don’t show up, right? That’s easy enough. I’ll have a great day if I just don’t go to work at all. Yet even I couldn’t do that. Deep in me is buried a work ethic that would rather trudge through it than walk out on it!

I hope you’re the same way. But I believe God has given the Christian Biblical tools to stare at a challenging situation smack in the face and come out rejoicing.

Here are some tips from I Thessalonians 5:16-18 and Ecclesiastes 9:10.

1. Rejoice always. Paul doesn’t suggest it. He commands it. Rejoice. Like Christmas choir, loudly singing, joy filled rejoicing. You get the picture. It’s a great day to be alive, and it’s your job and mine to rejoice.

2. Pray without ceasing. That’s right. I get to have a 12 hour prayer meeting with the Lord starting at noon today! What a great opportunity to turn my thoughts upward and intercede on behalf of others.

3. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Yep. That’s another command. Give thanks. There are many reasons to be thankful. I’m healthy. I have a job. Christmas won’t be as hard with the extra work. I’m saving lives. You get it. Make your own list of thanks. Plus it’s not a bad time to start getting the thanks thing ready since thanksgiving is 3 weeks away!

4. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. No excuses, no complaining. Work, and work hard. I believe that’s our calling, no matter the task. God gives strength as we show faithfulness.

5. Here’s a bonus thought from I Corinthians 10:31 – Do it for God’s glory. I don’t care if you’re a stay at home mom or if you’re a heart surgeon, every act you do is an act of worship to God himself. That includes my writing this blog, and that includes my teaching a bible study to 100 women. But it also includes my surviving the 12 hour shift that’s ahead. God is my boss. His eyes are on me, and my work will reflect that!

So there it is. Practical tips for Mondays. I hope you’ll find them handy, and I hope you’ll have a great day – no matter what you’re doing!

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