I think it’s safe to say we’ve all had days when we wanted to crawl back into bed and start over. You know — those instances when one wrong turn sets off a domino effect and things seem to spiral out of control before you even get the chance to brush your teeth; you get snippy with loved ones, become disappointed with yourself and before you know it circumstances seem too bleak for anything remotely positive to come out of the day.
“Time for a do-over!” we rush to say. Most times, the hope of tomorrow seems to be the only escape from overwhelmingly difficult situations. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why are we so easily defeated?
I think this phenomenon occurs not because we are too pessimistic, but rather because we are too optimistic. We wouldn’t face feelings of crippling defeat if we didn’t have extremely high standards and expectations for ourselves to in the first place.
Many of us put enormous pressure on ourselves to handle whatever life throws at us with composure and fortitude rather than facing the reality that in a fallen world, nothing will ever really be perfect. Sadly, Christians are not exempt from this trap.