nature shows... and the start to a good day...

One of the things that I often wonder about is, just exactly what makes a good day a good day? I mean, when I think about the course of my 29 years I have had over 10,650 days... what made the good ones good, and the bad ones bad? Is it how things start? Is it how the day ends? Does it matter who you are with? Does it matter what you do? Does it matter if you eat, exercise, sleep enough? Is there a formula that can separate the good days from the bad ones?

Well, I don't really think there is a formula, but there is a key... at least in my experience that helps keep bad days from becoming bad days... perspective.

Of all the things that I find relaxing there is one thing that really helps me start the day in a relaxed frame of mind: nature shows. There is one that comes on the Discovery HD Theater that I particularly love called, "Sunrise Earth." Now, for those of you that find nature shows boring, this one is a sure-fire tranquilizer dart, because the entire show consists of scenes and sounds of sunrises from a given location. No music. No commentary. Nothing but nature. I love this show when I am getting ready in the morning because it reminds of the beauty and grace of the natural world... the world God created. It helps me have some perspective about what is going on around me.

God knows we have a tendency to forget the greatness of who He is and what he has done... Certainly Job had had a series of extremely bad days, but when Job questions God about all that he had gone through what does God remind him of? That he is God...

1 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom
with such ignorant words?
3 Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
5 Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line?
6 What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone
7 as the morning stars sang together
and all the angels[a] shouted for joy?

8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
as it burst from the womb,
9 and as I clothed it with clouds
and wrapped it in thick darkness?
10 For I locked it behind barred gates,
limiting its shores.
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
Here your proud waves must stop!’

12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
14 As the light approaches,
the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
it is robed in brilliant colors.[b]
15 The light disturbs the wicked
and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
Have you explored their depths?
17 Do you know where the gates of death are located?
Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
18 Do you realize the extent of the earth?
Tell me about it if you know!

19 “Where does light come from,
and where does darkness go?
20 Can you take each to its home?
Do you know how to get there?
21 But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
and you are so very experienced!

22 “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of hail?
23 (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble,
for the day of battle and war.)
24 Where is the path to the source of light?
Where is the home of the east wind?

25 “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain?
Who laid out the path for the lightning?
26 Who makes the rain fall on barren land,
in a desert where no one lives?
27 Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground
and make the tender grass spring up?

28 “Does the rain have a father?
Who gives birth to the dew?
29 Who is the mother of the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?
30 For the water turns to ice as hard as rock,
and the surface of the water freezes.

31 “Can you direct the movement of the stars—
binding the cluster of the Pleiades
or loosening the cords of Orion?
32 Can you direct the sequence of the seasons
or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
33 Do you know the laws of the universe?
Can you use them to regulate the earth?

34 “Can you shout to the clouds
and make it rain?
35 Can you make lightning appear
and cause it to strike as you direct?
36 Who gives intuition to the heart
and instinct to the mind?
37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?
Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
38 when the parched ground is dry
and the soil has hardened into clods?

39 “Can you stalk prey for a lioness
and satisfy the young lions’ appetites
40 as they lie in their dens
or crouch in the thicket?
41 Who provides food for the ravens
when their young cry out to God
and wander about in hunger? Job 38

Here's the thing, I don't always get to have mornings where I start my day like that - remembering the creativity of God. I mean, there are times I have to rush, there are times I don't eat breakfast, there are times I forget things going out the door, there are times where the most important thing to me as I head out the door is the thing I am trying to get to. That's the opposite of having perspective. I, too question God's goodness, his wisdom, his justice... the questions aren't the problem unless I forget the answer he gives himself in Job 38.

Good days or bad, God is God and my only control in life is what I do with the day he has given me and how I approach him in the face of circumstances.