How to Make It Through a Bad Day
(or a Good One)

By Brother Rabbi Dani’el Rendelman
Emet Ministries
www.emetministries.com

Bad days. We all go through them. Some mornings you wake up on the wrong side of the bed and everything falls apart after that. Coffee spills, traffic jams, and upset bosses fill bad days for each of us. You know you’re really having a bad day if you call the suicide prevention hotline and they put you on hold. The story is told of a man who went to the doctor about his terrible headaches. The doctor told the man, “I have some bad news and some very bad news.” The patient didn’t know how to respond, so he said, “Well, might as well give me the bad news first. The doctor replied, “The lab called with your test results. They said you have 24 hours to live.” The man was shocked and yelled, “24 hours! That's terrible! What could be worse? What's the very bad news?” The doctor hung his head in shame and said, “I've been trying to reach you since yesterday.”

Seriously, bad things do happen. Pain is real. Life is hard. Everyone faces struggles and the stress of family life, mounting bills, and work troubles. Is this really the type of life that the Almighty wants for His children? Does life have to be so hard? Should we really allow problems to defeat us and bring us down?

Biblically, believers have been promised a blessed abundant life. The scriptures are clear about the issue. The Savior said, “the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy but I have come that you might have life and life more abundantly,” John 10:10. But how? How does a person rise above the worries of this world and? How is this promise really experienced? How can we make it through a bad day?

One key to taking this promise of abundant life off the printed page and applying it is through the cry or shout. Hope is given and miracles happen when a person cries out in fervency and despair to the Almighty. The problem is that most people shout out in despair only when they are in despair. We pray more when our “luck” runs out than when all is great. Just think about it. We turn “spiritual” after a terrorist attack or family crisis. And then as time passes so does our spirituality. Our fire of faith dwindles down until the next catastrophe. Then we start the whole process over again. How sad! We should cry aloud to YHWH during the good and the bad days! (YHWH is the ancient Hebrew name…

During hard trials and on happy trails we should daily cry out to YHWH. Cry? Shout? Yes! Don’t be so religious that you miss the point here – the Almighty wants you to raise your voice in urgency to Him.

You probably have heard that “real men don’t cry” or that “holy people are quiet people.” These statements are far from the truth. When we choose NOT to cry we are actually cutting ourselves off from blessing. The Messiah said, “blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” You can’t receive the blessing of comfort until you have mourned and cried out in despair!

Here are a few verses that stress the importance of shouting or calling out to YHWH.

(Psalms 50:15 NKJV) Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

(Psalms 145:18-20 NKJV) YHWH is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. YHWH preserves all who love Him, But all the wicked He will destroy.

(Isaiah 41:17 NKJV) "The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, YHWH, will hear them; I, the YHWH of Israel, will not forsake them.

(Isaiah 55:1-3 NKJV) "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. {3} Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you; The sure mercies of David.

(Isaiah 65:24 NKJV) "It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

(Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV) 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'

The Hebrew word used for “cry” and “call” in many of these verses is the term “teruah.” The Strong’s Exhaustive Dictionary explains that this Hebrew phrase means to “shout, raise a sound, cry out, give a blast, to shout a war-cry or alarm of battle, to sound a signal for war or march, to shout in triumph (over enemies), to shout in applause, to cry out in distress, to shout for joy.”

We grab YHWH’s attention when we cry out to Him. Its not the volume that is important but the attitude and heart behind the noise. In the book of Numbers, called “Bamidbar” in Hebrew, we find the Israelites being told to shout aloud when they are oppressed. YHWH promises to hear their shout, remember them, and rescue them from their enemies. The same is true for us today. Victory is but a shout or cry away.

“And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before YHWH, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before YHWH,” Numbers 10:9-10.

These verses speak specifically of using a silver trumpet or even ram’s horn, called a “shofar” in Hebrew. However, the voice works just as well. In the book of Isaiah we are told to “raise your voice like a trumpet,” Isaiah 58:1. And even the shape of the esophagus resembles a shofar. The point is that YHWH wants to hear your cry. Don’t ignore the pain! Cry aloud to YHWH for salvation. Admitting pain and problems may go against every prosperity teaching on the internet, but it is true. YHWH wants you to shout out to Him. Sound an alarm when the enemy is oppressing you and you will be remembered by YHWH. The principle is simple – when we remember him he remembers us!

“YHWH remembers” is a phrase that isn’t heard very often. Like “honest politician” or “celibate priest” most people don’t say that YHWH remembers. We reason that we are always on His mind and he would NEVER forget us. Well that’s true and its not true. The Hebraic concept of “remembering” is very different than the Greek/logical idea of simply bringing something to mind. The Hebraic idea of “remembering” is to actively participate and not just mentally think about. To the Hebrew to “remember” is to “experience it again.” For example, we are told to wear tassels of blue upon our garments so that we can “remember and obey” the commandments. “And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of YHWH, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring,” Numbers 15:39. Believers wear tassels to remember – to experience again and again the commandment and blessing.

Numbers 10: says that when we teruah – cry and shout aloud – that YHWH remembers us! And when YHWH remembers his people, great things happen. When the storms were at their climax and humanity had perished, YHWH remembered Noach and the floodwaters receded. Genesis / Beresheet 19:29 says that YHWH remembered Abraham and gave him many military victories. And finally, the Bible says that “YHWH remembered Rachel, and YHWH heard her, and opened her womb,” in Genesis 30:22.

Did you get that? YHWH will remember you as you shout and cry out to Him in urgency. Shout to Him if you need the flood of the world to stop! Cry out to Him if you want victory over your enemies. Lift your prayer in fervency if you need new life! Come near to Him and He will come near to you!

The Messiah Y’shua spoke about the importance of urgency when praying. “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not YHWH bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?’ (Luke 18:7-8).” YHWH certainly hears the sincere prayer. However, when a fervent shout is lifted then positive results abound. Much of our prayer lacks the kind of fervency that YHWH seeks for active results. Remember, its not the volume of the voice but the cry of the heart that YHWH hears. YHWH longs to hear us cry out to Him.

The next time you have a bad day – or a good one – remember this story: A number of years ago researchers performed an experiment to see the effect hope has on those undergoing hardship. Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water. The researchers left one set in the water and found that within an hour they had all drowned. The other rats were periodically lifted out of the water and then returned. When that happened, the second set of rats swam for over 24 hours. Why? Not because they were given a rest, but because they suddenly had hope!

Those animals somehow hoped that if they could stay afloat just a little longer, someone would reach down and rescue them. If hope holds such power for unthinking rodents, how much greater should is effect be on our lives. Lift your voice when the trials of life try to drown you. Take heart and know that YHWH will remember you when you cry out to Him.