Ever have one of those days you’d gladly return for a refund? Maybe it starts with something small — and inconvenient. Then another thing piles on. And another. Before long, you’re wondering if staying in bed would’ve been the wiser spiritual decision.

In this episode, we talk about how to handle the days that hit hard — the ones filled with disappointment, frustration, or unexpected blows. Psalm 118 doesn’t give us an escape clause. It doesn’t say, “Rejoice when it’s going well.” It simply says: this is the day the Lord has made.

Even this one.

So what does it actually look like to rejoice when the day feels anything but joyful?

What We Discuss

• Why bad days feel so overwhelming

• The difference between denial and biblical rejoicing

• How perspective shifts emotional response

• The role of humor in spiritual resilience

• Choosing gratitude when circumstances don’t cooperate

• Letting God shape us through daily frustrations

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Full Transcript Below:

When It's One of Those DaysBy Cindi McMenamin

Bible Reading: 
"This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24 ESV). 

Do you know what it’s like to have one of those days you wish you could do over? 

My friend Holly recalls that her day like that started at 4:30 a.m. when she opened the door of her house to pick up the newspaper, which was usually on her welcome mat waiting for her. But as she opened the door, and before she even had a chance to look down on her welcome mat…Thunk! The newspaper delivery person, unknowingly, chucked that newspaper through the early morning still-dark air, and it pelted her right in the chest. She never even saw it coming!

Stumbling over a bit, she regained her composure and just stood there. 

Nice aim, she thought, sarcastically, and turned around and closed the door. The rest of the day didn’t get much better. One disappointing situation after another. Until pretty soon, she wished she hadn’t even gotten out of bed that morning. Fortunately for Holly, she kept her sense of humor and laughed about it with several women in her exercise class at the end of the day. 

We all have days when we get pelted with something right in the chest. A stinging insult. An action by a co-worker or friend that leaves us shocked. Some news that causes us to stumble or double over.  Sometimes it’s from someone, unknowingly, chucking something through the air that happens to hit us. And other times it’s a direct hit from someone with a pretty good aim!

Whether it’s one incident after another that seems to be giving you a bad day or circumstances in which you are the one who is clearly messing up, there is a way to get through it.

God's Word gives us simple instructions for handling the “bad days.” 

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it," the psalmist said.  

But how can we rejoice? That word creates a picture in my mind of a person jumping up in the air and shouting for joy. Are we to do that when we’re having one of those days? 

Evidently so. 

It’s interesting that God’s Word doesn’t say: “This is the day the Lord accidentally let slip through the heavens; let us tolerate it and be done with it.” Rather, God’s Word specifically states that this day—even the one in which you get plunked right in the chest—is a day that He has made and therefore it is one worth rejoicing in. 

Intersecting Faith & Life:

I suppose God wants us to realize that even when uncomfortable or hurtful or downright disastrous things happen, it is still a day in which we live, breathe, and exist. It is still a day in which we can choose to see the brighter side of things and acknowledge that He’s in control. It’s still a day in which we can, like Holly, keep a sense of humor and laugh at the day’s events by sundown. 

There is still something in this day worth rejoicing about because it is a day given to us by the Maker of Heaven and Earth. 

Can you, my friend, find something in this day worth rejoicing about? If not, then simply rejoice. This is the day the Lord has made—for you to live it with Him and become the kind of person He desires you to be. Rejoice in it, my friend. And see if it doesn’t change your outlook—and your day. 

Thank You, Lord, for this day—regardless of what it brings or has already brought my way. Today is a day that I live and breathe and exist. May I do so with a song in my heart simply because You have given me life. And may You be pleased by my attitude, my gratitude, and my praise. Thank You that You can grow me, mature me, sharpen me, and shape me through whatever comes my way. I surrender it all to You, Lord Jesus. In Your name, I pray this. Amen. 

Further Reading:
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

For daily perspective and reasons to praise, see Cindi’s book, The New Loneliness Devotional: 50 Days to a Closer Connection with God.