“…our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope…” 2 Thessalonians 2:16

Waking to the darkness is not exactly one of my joyful experiences in life. After a restless night, I found that I was sleeping my best when I was rudely notified by my alarm clock that it was time to get up. As I struggled to climb into reality, and before my feet even hit the floor, one thought brought joy to my spirit…IT’S FRIDAY!!!!!

I’ve been up for a while now…AND had my coffee…so I can think with a little more clarity. And I am wondering just WHY I quickly perked up at the thought that it was Friday? I concluded what everyone already knows…Friday has special meaning because, to students in school, and employees punching a time clock, Monday through Thursday were WORK days. Friday is the LAST day before THE WEEKEND! And WEEKENDS meant NO MANDATORY WORK!

I’m not a student anymore, nor do I punch a clock. In fact, for last 20+ years, weekends usually mean MORE work for me, personally. But my head and feet didn’t recognize that in the dark fog and slap a frown on my face! In fact, my immediate reaction was a SMILE…a spark…a joy! But WHY???? Maybe it’s the power of the past!

Memories, especially GOOD ones, linger longer than reality and have a way of bringing with them the FEELINGS associated with what WAS or USED to be. Something that happened long ago, like a trip with the kids to the mountains, a honeymoon, Christmas…those things still can make me smile! And a smile on my heart puts a smile on my face. Such is the POWER OF THE PAST!!!

I deliberately cut out, and used, the MIDDLE of this Bible verse. It gives me a POWERFUL message all by itself, even if it’s not the total and complete thought of the verse. The POWER of this message comes from something that happened in the PAST! God and His son Jesus (HIMSELF), when they looked at me with GRACE…then LOVED and GAVE! And the gift that they gave, even BEFORE I was born, was the ability to look forward…with eternal encouragement and good hope! Kind of like a Friday!

I like this idea that the past has a way of catching up with me. When that thought of eternal encouragement and good hope hit me, it had automatically made me smile. Because, in light of eternity, EVERY DAY is like a FRIDAY! I don’t have to be down, sad, blue, depressed or worried. And THAT is GOOD NEWS!

There is a WHOLE LOTTA GOOD THINGS COMIN’ because of what God already did. More than I can even think or imagine, the Bible says. So I believe I will take this as a heavenly nudge and plan for a GOOD day instead of a dark one. And if you want to join me…TGIF to you too!