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It was a Monday morning, and I was headed to work. I only had time to grab my coffee and a lunch before I left home, so as I arrived at the job and started to get ready to go, I looked out the window at the mud, drizzling rain, and endless rows of siding to install, and I quietly said a prayer, “Dear God, help me today. You know what I’m dealing with in my heart, I’m having a hard time; bless me with a good day. Amen.” I took one last swig of coffee, and immediately started to choke and sputter coffee onto the steering wheel. It was a classic example of ‘swallowed down the wrong throat.’

Immediately, my mind was engulfed with feelings for what just happened. Frustration and doubt began to flood my thoughts. Ha, I suppose that’s what happens when I pray a prayer like that. Such thoughts ran through my mind like a whirlwind, swishing away every ounce of hope I had for it being a good day. Resigned and discouraged, I got out of my car and got to work.

As I worked, I began to think about what happened. I had prayed for it to be a good day. I recalled other times recently when I had prayed certain prayers to God, and received answers much more awful and disappointing than this. Answers that were so hard to accept, it took every last ounce of trust I had, to believe.

I began to think of faith, and hope, and how little of them it seems I have, that my day could be thrown awry, merely by an incident with coffee and this never-ending mud. I thought of God. And how faithful He has been to me. I’ve doubted Him. I’ve shaken my fist at Him in desperation and hopelessness. Yet through all of it, He has held me and still been my God and my Savior. He has granted me hope when everything looked hopeless, and shown me what it is to hope against hope. He has promised to give me strength.

Strength. That is what I really actually needed. I discovered that this is something of which I had learned in the past, during one of my weakest times ever. The following verse came to mind, and I decided to think of it.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

My weakness abounded at the moment. Not that choking on my coffee was so bad; I’ve done it before and laughed at it. However, dealing with pain and doubts already, and then this day in which all was wrong was too much. I had to get out of this awful state of mind.  And that’s when I realized: everything within my thought process that day was pushing God and His actual promises out of the picture. I had essentially closed the door to receiving His strength in exchange for my weakness. I had slammed it shut, perhaps in the futile hope of retaining the smidgeon of strength I had, myself.

I went and prayed to God again, to grant me strength, and to help me to walk with Him through my day. My day didn’t go better at all. In fact, it got worse, but that’s another story for another day. But I had made this grand exchange: my weakness for God’s strength. And with God’s strength, I was able to make it through that day, and was even able to worship Him on my way home.

God made the promise that He would supply strength. We have only to believe that His promise is true, and act on that promise, giving Him our weakness, doubt, insecurity and fear, so that he can grant us strength and hope. God doesn’t promise a good day. He promises strength to carry you through.

Final note: I write this, in the hope that it might be enlightening to even one of you. I find that when I write, it solidifies a concept in my own mind, as well. I haven’t had time to write much lately, but I felt I should share this with you, my faithful readers. Godspeed.