The Better Choice

Last October when I watched 'The Croods' for the first time, the opening lines from Eep really touched me, especially the line, 'A hope that things will be better today than they were yesterday.' Over this past year, there have been many nights when I have thanked God for getting me to the end of the day and been hopeful that tomorrow would be a better day.

Would I, if it had been possible, avoided the day that I had just journeyed? I don't know? I know I would rather not face the pain and the hurt and the disappointment but on the flip side, I'm thankful for the precious moments I share with my children, my family and my friends and I'm thankful for the things I am learning about myself. Also, I know that if I went back over that day, there would be at least one blessing to be thankful for.

When I get up in the morning I have no idea what is going to come my way that day. I might plan to do certain things or go out to a particular place but really who knows what might happen? What I do know is that it is up to me how I respond to the different things that come my way. Things might happen that are not my choice but it is my choice how I react. I cannot and must not blame anyone else for the choices I make.

I make that choice and it might be that I react in the heat of the moment or it might be that I consider long and hard how I should respond. However the choice is made, it is my choice - no one else can be held responsible for the choices I make.

If I am honest, I make wrong choices and sometimes respond to things in the wrong way and because I get it wrong, I know I cannot criticise or judge others for the decisions and choices they make.
I suppose what I am trying to say is, that it is my choice as to whether 'things will be better today than they were yesterday'. I can make the more valuable choice to learn from the things I got wrong yesterday and use that experience to make today better.

It's a big ask to make the better choice and it is hard work but when you succeed it is so worthwhile in so many ways - ways that we may not even realise.

With every sun comes a new day and the opportunity to walk good steps, to make meaningful choices whatever that new day may bring.

I can also, if I choose, walk into that new day in the confidence that I am not alone and that I never will be. I can hold on to the One who has already walked my new day and I can listen for the whisper of His direction and pause to consider His guidance and unfailing love which helps me to make the better choice.

'Whether you turn to the right or to the left, 

your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 

"This is the way; walk in it."'

Isaiah 30:21 (New International Version)