You hear all the time, perhaps it is a phrase you use. However, what do you mean when you wish someone a good day? Do you mean that you hope nothing bad happens that day? If you are honest, you have to admit that it is at best an uncertain wish. Bad things happen to people everyday. So, saying have a good day is an iffy proposition.
Perhaps you mean good in terms being happy. The same problems apply. There is much in life that doesn’t qualify as happiness. Therefore, wishing someone a good day appears to be a less than certain expectation. For example, you tell your child to have a good day. And then she trips and falls. She scrapes her knee, rips her brand new pants and gets dirt all over herself. Not exactly a good day or a happy day!
The problem is not with encouraging someone to have a good day. The problems arise based on what good means. However, there is a definition of good that will always fit any situation you find yourself in. Here is what the psalmist says in Psalm 73:26 & 28:
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever…
But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works.
The Holy Spirit, through the psalmist, freely acknowledges that difficulties, struggles, and unpleasant circumstances are part of life. But then he says these things don’t make life good. The nearness of God is what makes life good!
No, doubt you have heard this before. The question is do you live as if this were true? God has promised that he will never leave you or forsake you. His word tells you that he is always everywhere. Working with what the Holy Spirit says is true provides a new and fresh meaning to “have a good day.”
God is always with you. He is always near. This means that whether you scrape your knee or someone scrapes your heart, God’s nearness remains your good. God does not simply pat you and me on the head and wish us well each day. He is with always there with us. He is always your good!
Because of the commitment of Christ, he remains faithful to you regardless of the circumstance. By his power he is even working in the hard things to bring good to his people.
Now we have context for encouraging someone to have a good day. Circumstances do not make a day good or bad. It is the nearness of God that is our good!