“This is the day. . .”

Every so often, maybe once or month, or maybe MORE often, I find myself murmuring the scripture verse from Psalm 118: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  I think that’s Psalm 118.  Let me check.  Yup.  Psalm 118:24.  The Message puts it like this: “This is the very day God acted—let’s celebrate and be festive!”  That makes my point: God is active today in our lives.  God is active everyday.  What is God doing in your life TODAY?  ”This,” the verse says, “is the day the Lord has made,” and not another day.  You have today, so far, pretty guaranteed.  What have you done?  I’ve eaten macaroni and cheese, called church members on the phone, read biblical commentaries, returned emails, fed the baby and changed the baby’s diaper.  All of this is part of the day the Lord has made.  Can I accept all this?  Yes.  That’s the other part of the verse that grabs me: “This is the day the Lord has made (and not another); Let us rejoice and be glad (not resentful, not angry).”  This has to do with accepting what God dishes out.  Wow.  This is obviously the most challenging thing about being a Reformed Christian.  God is the one who does the dishing out.  God gives us good gifts, challenges, trials, tests.  I don’t always like that idea.  I don’t always like what happens to me.  But I am challenged by this Psalm, to “accept the things I cannot change,” as the famous prayer says, and become wise.  Today is the Day the Lord has made for us, and as we walk together toward Easter–only through the tunnel of death–we will hear Psalm 118 on Palm Sunday.  It is also a day the Lord made.  Just like today.  Rejoice a little.  Help someone else rejoice.