As an octogenarian, I can honestly say that for most of my life, I have seen good days! Praise God for that!
On the farm where I was reared, we worked, but it was not so hard as I gripe, sometimes. We were rewarded with full stomachs and praise from our parents. I enjoyed play time with my brothers, my bike, and my horse, and reading time with my sisters. Mom took time to teach me to sew and some cooking, although I preferred being outdoors. I loved going to school and learning new things, and maybe because I loved reading, I spent many hours in books, pretending I was a character in the story!
Married life was filled with wonderful times of travel, children, teaching, writing, and spending time with my husband in ministry for the Lord. Seeing some of my work published has been both fulfilling and humbling. God has indeed been good to me. I am forever grateful!
Perhaps I was ignorant or oblivious to their sufferings, but I think my parents and siblings were happy most of the time also. I recall domino games in the evenings, singing together, Bible reading circle, and visiting with relatives, always with good food! I carried much of that over into my married life and that gave me strength to continue during difficult times.
I believe the safe, non-threatening atmosphere, void of profanity or substance abuse promoted that joy. Ours was not a perfect home — we were dysfunctional and very poor — but we heard no evil or deceitful speech from our parents, and they did not let us do that and get away with it. We pursued peace. We prayed for peace and harmony, compassion and humility. We were often reminded that the joy of the Lord is our strength! We were to radiate that joy!
I Peter 3:10-11 tells us how we should live if we want to see good days. Then in verse 12, Peter says God sees our trials. Peter writes from experience, as in Acts 12:1-19 Luke tells of Peter’s adventure in jail and his amazing release, showing the answer to sincere prayer is “just outside the door”! I know God answered the prayers of my parents because now I can look back and see how God took all our bad days and bad decisions and worked them out for our good because we loved Him.
Peter goes on to assure us in verses 13-17 that we should continue to be eager to do good, even if we have to suffer for it. We must make that commitment — to set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts — because if we make that commitment, we can continue to do good with the help from the Holy Spirit.
Our actions speak loudly, either for Christ or against Him. We are to be witnesses, not prosecuting attorneys! We need to arm ourselves with the mind of Christ. He loves us!
As Christians, we have a ministry or service to do today. The world needs to hear the Gospel, from us even more than from pulpits, because our testimonies can help the unbelievers relate better when they hear how God has worked with us personally. God has given us reconciliation. As His ambassadors, we can help them be reconciled to God!
We can expect opposition, because that is the way of society today. We need to serve even if we see no results. We have hope because of the resurrection of Jesus.
Everyone wants good days, and we can have them with the help from God, the Holy Spirit. There is a condition, however; our lips must speak no guile. We must keep from speaking evil and telling lies.
Why is that so important? Because what comes out of our mouth is from our heart, so if our heart is full of nothing good, we cannot speak good or do good or expect good days.
Hearts filled with nothing good are those Satan uses. He causes those people to meddle in other people’s business (I Thess 4:11); tell tales or secrets out of envy or anger (Lev. 19:16); say things with haste and uncontrolled temper (Ecc. 5:2); lie (John 5:44); and speak with profanity (Col. 4:6). Some are contentious (Gal. 5:15), teach false doctrines (Gal. 1:7); and complain excessively (Philippians 2:14).
Those who do not seek or speak good bring heartache. They are usually in trouble, and destroy any confidence anyone has in them. Eternal destruction awaits those who never learn tongue control (Matt. 12:37).
It is wise to work daily to keep my tongue free from sin. Like King David, I should “take heed to my ways, that I not sin with my tongue.” Psalm 39:1
May God help us bless others with our speech and let us continue to radiate His joy, love life, and see good days.
Joyce Smith Broyles