This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalms 118:24, KJV

Everyone gets to that point at some stage in their life. You know the one - the one that you just are feeling overwhelmed and begin to question whether or not you can go on. Many will sink into a deep depression when life gets like that. They feel trapped, as if there is no way out of the mess that their life has become. What can we do when the struggles of life just seem too much to bear?

This is when we would all like that reset button. You know the one. It's that feeling that if you could just leave your problems behind and start over, that everything would be okay. The good news that I want to bring today is that God has such a reset button. It's not a "magic wand" that can just be waved to make everything go away, but it can have a much more profound effect than this immature type of fantasy that we often wish for. The rest button I am talking about is far more powerful than a walking away from reality in order to start anew. That type of abandoning of the stewardship that God has entrusted us with can only lead to guilt and even more depression. The "rest" I am referring to is a rational solution that allows us to reduce the problems we have, while at the same time taking care of the responsibilities that we have.

And it begins with the verse above!

The 118th chapter in Psalms begins and ends with the same statement: "Give thanks to the LORD for He is good, His love endures forever." The passage quoted above in the 24th verse has a dual meaning. First, it looks forward to the day of the coming of the Messiah. When we understand this properly, we will see that we truly do have a Savior - one who can restore our soul by cleansing us from all sin. Second, He also gives us a new start each day that we will accept that gift. It's an embracing of the fact that yesterday is gone, along with all of the mistakes we have made in the past. While we still have to deal with some of the problems that have arisen in our past, we have a brand new day to do something about them.

More importantly, we have an opportunity for a fresh outlook. We know that God will help us whenever we need that help, as long as we will seek it on His terms. We also know that He has promised that we will not be tempted with more than we can bear, If we will trust Him in this, we can begin to look at all of those problems that seemed so overwhelming with new eyes. When life seems too much for me, it is always because I am focusing more on the temporary rather than the eternal, the physical rather than the spiritual. Could this also be true of your own life?

Keep in mind that we are going to Heaven, should we choose to accept God's offer and terms for this wonderful gift. Since that is the case, we can effectively have the pressures that this life brings reduced to a manageable level. The reason we can do so is because we have a loving Father who has determined to give us everything we need to cope with the daily cares of this world. Further, we have a Savior who has invited us to exchange our burdens for a much lighter and gentler load to carry. Remember that it was Jesus Himself who said that His yoke was easy and His burden light. 

When we truly understand and accept these promises, we can effectively have that reset in our lives that we genuinely need from time to time. It must be stressed that this reset is not a walking away from rightful responsibilities that we have take on, but is is a way to put them in a perspective that will allow us to see that, with God's help, they are really not so overwhelming after all. 

This truly is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice, then, and be glad in it. And let us do so with a fresh determination to accept the things we cannot change, and to also accept that God will help us every step of the way, if we will just let Him.