Melancholy Days

There are those days.
There is no explanation.
There is really no reason.
Or so it seems.

Days where the sun is shining, but a little gray cloud lingers.
Days where nothing out of the ordinary happened, yet something nags at you.
Days that for all intents and purposes are simply lovely days.
You just have to tell your heart.

Our culture is so quick to put a label on things.
Our culture is quick to suggest a remedy.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) typically occurs in fall and winter in some people.
Do those days have a name when they happen in spring and summer?

You just cannot put your finger on it.
The joy that you usually hold onto so tightly seems allusive.
You are not seeing the glass half empty.
You just want another glass.

It is not clinical anything.
It is not even something you can name.
My mother used to call it, melancholy days.
She said that everyone has them every once in a while.

You just don’t give in to them, said this woman of the Depression era.
It was not a pulling up of her bootstraps that seemed to remedy the situation.
It was surrounding herself with those she loved.
It was often singing with her sisters in perfect harmony.

I thought of the name she gave those days.
Melancholy days happen to the best of us.
I pondered all of this as I sat on my porch swing.
The back and forth motion and the sound of the birds helped me gather my thoughts.

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself. (C.S.Lewis)

God is building a palace in me and in you.
The renovation is not always pleasant or comfortable.
The walls come down.
It seems as if the construction debris will never go away.

I sat on the swing as it moved back and forth.
I wondered what walls were coming down?
I wondered what things needed to be fixed?
I wondered about the purpose of the renovation?

We are often content with our little cottages.
They are safe.
They are familiar.
Are they fit for a King?

When we come to Jesus in faith for our salvation, our cottage is no longer meant for just one.
God takes up residence in our heart.
Before He takes up residence, demolition and renovation has to take place.
Since God is the Author and Perfecter of our faith, the work begins there.

What work do we have to do?
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29)
That is the only work we bring to the project.
The rest of the construction work is done by God Himself.

Perhaps our melancholy days happen when God’s renovation work is in full swing.
Knocking down walls is a painful process.
We are content in our little cottage.
God is building a palace.

If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world. (C.S. Lewis)

We desire the familiar on our melancholy days.
The familiar does not satisfy.
Nothing here will truly satisfy.
We were not created for here; we were created for There.

In the meantime, as God turns our cottage into a palace, Jesus is preparing a place for us.
We cannot imagine the beauty of our Heavenly Home.
The renovation here pales in comparison to the beauty of Heaven.
However, in the meantime, melancholy days will happen.

Melancholy days are actually a gift.
They make sure we do not get too settled here.
They make sure we remember that this is not our true Home.
The make sure we remember our cottage is being turned into a palace.

The King wants to live there Himself.
As the swing went back and forth, I smiled.
Melancholy days took on a new meaning.
I am under construction.

 

2 responses to “Melancholy Days”

1. I love what you wrote–I never thought of what I call “blah” days as being part of God’s building process. We do have to have quiet times of reflection. And I love this song! Is it part of a CD?

   Reply

   • Sue,
     I love the song, too! It was recorded at one of the Women of Faith conferences, but you can find the song on Watermark’s “All Things New” CD.
     Gina

     Reply