First, a sudden movement in the wrong direction and whoosh! the water glass beside the bed spills over the floor. Quickly grabbing tissues one mops it up. Fun. Then, while making coffee one’s sleeve catches a delicate stem glass on the kitchen countertop and sends it tumbling over – sending shards of glass all over. Just lovely, broken glass before breakfast! (And in case you’re wondering, no alcohol here; stem glasses in our household serve up a myriad of delicious non-alcoholic drinks, juices, etc.) So, hmmm…any more surprises to start the day? Should I go back to bed before there are? Is it going to be one of ‘those days’?

No matter how tempted I might be to do so, I don’t go back to bed, of course, because life is filled with these kind of days. You just move on and hope for a better rest of the day, don’t you? Or do you? Does it ruin your day? Or someone else’s, because you share your frustration?

And what if a crisis hits that requires more than just an attitude adjustment?

Sometimes our days start out rocky, sometimes even our lives do, or else they become rocky somewhere along life’s way. Just like broken glass before breakfast, we can either let those experiences ruin the rest of our day (or week, month, year, lives) or begin to turn it around.

We have to let the not-so-good, or even terrible, experiences go and release them to our past in order to enjoy the present and the future. We cannot let them steal our joy.

Why stay miserable, revisiting a bad experience in our minds? It only causes pain. And really, who wants to spend their life in emotional pain, when joy is available to replace it?

I understand that there are many, many experiences in our lives that are far worse than a broken glass before breakfast. Experiences where we feel we could never smile again. Been there, done that. I know what a broken heart feels like, the pain of tears and hurt deep down inside. Of broken dreams, frustrations, fears, embarrassment, and worry. And so do you, no doubt.

But joy can be restored. Even after the darkest of times. And it really is how we bounce back that matters.

Although re-adjusting our attitude and determining to see the silver lining in all things, can be an amazing tool to help that process, sometimes we need something stronger to help us do so. Someone stronger to help us bounce back. The good news: there is One who can and will, as noted in Psalm 55:22 – “Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you.”

I challenge you to give your burden to the One who cares for you, whose shoulders are stronger, and let Him help you bear it and turn your situation around. As the powerful song from Scott Wesley Brown says “If He carried the weight of the world on His shoulders, surely my brother or sister, He can carry you.”

Today, if you have experienced a ‘broken glass before breakfast’ day, or worse, let go and let God restore your joy. He’s standing by, just waiting to do so.

And make it a better day. I’m going to!