All bad days aren’t the same. Sometimes our circumstances are rotten, but we come out smelling like a rose. We keep a good attitude and we are able to just keep going. My husband likes to say that is like “water off a ducks back.” Then, there are those bad days where we “lose it,” our minds, our tempers… maybe even our witness.
We’ve all had one, Ok, maybe a few more than that. Does that mean we have messed up the whole faith thing? Do we have to go back to “start?” What kind of punishment does God have worked out for us?

Let me remind you of just a few who had bad days:
Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. Then was falsely accused and sent to prison.
Moses spent over forty years leading a bunch of whiny, complaining, hard hearted people.
David had a king trying to kill him several times, sinned with Bathsheba, and had quite a few bad days.
Paul persecuted the early Church, was beaten, thrown into prison, shipwrecked (twice), and also had more than his fare share of bad days.
Peter denied Christ, even after Jesus warned him.
Jesus had some. He was rejected by His own people, He was mocked, ridiculed, the religious leaders sought to kill Him, and we haven’t even mentioned Gethsemane, or Calvary.

James 1:2-3 (NIV), “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

I think it is safe to say that a bad day constitutes a “trial.” It is trying to live in this fallen world. Sometimes our messes are of our own making, and sometimes we just land in them due to no fault of our own. Either way, count it joy. Don’t live there. Don’t glorify the circumstances. Look to God. Repent if needed and move on. Find out what God has to say about it. So you lost it, so what! Those people mentioned above did too.

Joseph saved all of Egypt and his whole family from starvation.
Moses spoke with God face to face.
God called David “a man after My own heart,” and he was given the design of the temple.
Paul wrote most of the New Testament.
Peter brought salvation to the Gentiles and was a leader in the early Church.
And Jesus, well, He fulfilled the law, saved the whole world…you know, all that wonderful stuff!

James told us that that we will mature when our faith is tested.
Don’t let a bad day dictate your future! Move on, move ahead. Don’t remember them. God doesn’t.