This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. – Psalm 118:24, KJV

When trouble comes, it is never welcome. Trouble comes to us all, and it usually comes upon us as a thief in the night – unexpectedly, suddenly, and without mercy. No matter how hard you prepare for it, when trouble strikes, it hurts.

Trouble can take many forms: the death of a loved one, a chronic illness, financial destruction, a false accusation of wrongdoing, the loss of a job, or a broken family, just to name a few. When calamity comes knocking – and it will – it will turn your world upside down.

How should we Christians react when the tempestuous sea of life tosses us to and fro? Not how we usually do. Usually, we despair or lash out in anger or pine away. But we should rather remember the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 118:24, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

The keyword in Psalm 118:24 is “will.” We usually relegate joy and gladness to the realm of the reactive. In other words, we usually rejoice and are glad as an emotional re-action to some circumstance or set of circumstances that are pleasing. In Psalm 118, however, we learn that joy and gladness are to spring from an act of will; they are to be the offspring of an active choice to be joyful and glad no matter what our circumstances might be. In Psalm 118:18, the Psalmist lets us know that, “The Lord hath chastened me sore.” But, in verse 24, he exercised his will and made a choice to “rejoice and be glad” in the day he had been given, despite the chastening.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift; that is why we call it “the present.” Granted, some presents are better than others, but every present is precious. So, rejoice!