Have a Good Day?

Have a good day!“ 

       You probably hear that familiar phrase several times a day. And without much thought, you probably respond with a friendly, “Thanks, you too!”. 

     Have you ever considered what constitutes a truly ‘good day’?  Is a good day simply the opposite of a bad day?  So the absence of ‘bad things’ happening in a 24 hour period qualifies a day for the title of ‘Good’? But a good day should be more than the opposite of a bad day.  A ‘good’ day is and ought to be defined by the Maker of Days.

      The Bible says, “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.” (John 3:1) 

     This implies that a good day would be one in which the events of the day not only go in your favor but both your body and soul remain in good health as well. Therefore when we say, “Have a good day”, we are wishing each other a day of felicitous happenings along with protection and prosperity of  one’s body and soul. That’s quite a wish! 

   And with this definition, don’t we all want our days to be ‘good’?  We surely want good days for our children; not just length of days, but fulfilling and happy days. As parents we hope that in time they will look back upon their childhood and say “Those were good days.”.

        So as I put my feet upon the floor each morning, the thoughts and hopes of a good day run through my head. But those thoughts quickly make way for the first wave of urgent issues that need to be addressed immediately. Breakfast must be made. Dishes must be washed, along with the laundry and myriad of other mundane activities. And of course, as I run through these activities, one after the other as the day goes on, I never stop and say to myself, “Gee, I’m having a good day!”.  I don’t associate these domestic chores with having a good day. Sure, I might burn the eggs, the washing machine could break down, the dogs might leave a surprise on a newly vacuumed carpet, but the absence of all those disasters doesn’t necessarily mean I’m having a ‘good’ day. It just means I’m not having a horrible day!

      I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what a ‘good’ day looks like. I never really had a satisfying definition until the day I was driving my teenage daughter to work and she grabbed my arm and asked me to pray for her. I asked what she wanted to pray about and she said she wanted just to have a “good day at work”. I am taken aback at the realization that Someone has been hearing my thoughts. And before I could ask her what her definition of a ‘good day’ was, I realized, as I held her hand and we bowed our heads, that I was having a good day! Sitting in my funky old van holding my daughter’s hand and praying with her in the parking lot of Chic-Fil-a had turned my mundane day into a truly good day.  I felt all of Heaven reigning blessings down upon us as God gently reminded me that He is in every moment of every day. These moments, these precious moments spent with precious people transform us, strengthen us, and make our days truly ‘good’. 

     As I’m washing the last dish, as I’m folding a mountain of laundry, as I’m trying to turn leftovers into an epic feast, God is there. And God is good. To put it syllogistically:

God is always good

God is always with me

Therefore, good is always with me

     I now know what makes a day good.  A good day is any day you spend under an exposed heaven with a grateful heart. A good day is a day authored by the Ancient of Days, and therefore all days are good. Yes, sometimes bad things happen in the middle of a good day but there is a good God who has promised to stay with you every hour of every day, good or bad.

    Tomorrow I will again climb out of bed, put my feet on the floor and think about having a good day.  And I will smile to myself knowing my Father has already prepared the day and will walk me through whatever it brings. Until that day when all tears will be wiped away (Rev. 21:4),  I hold fast to the hand of the Good King who makes all my days good.