The Very Worst Day

By: Steve Huston

NOTE: This is our current bulletin insert for April 2026; we invite you to read and then encourage your church to receive this free monthly publication which fits on a half sheet of paper to be inserted into your bulletin. To sign up for this free resource email kimberly@americandecency.org. We will email it to your church each month and they can unsubscribe any time they choose. Thank you for your time and consideration.

---

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10)

Ten-year-old Bobby came running into the house, tears streaming down his face declaring, “This is the very worst day ever!” His mother, used to such boyish declarations, asked what calamity had brought “the end of the world” this time. Bobby explained, “I’ve been looking forward to the big game all week, but the rainstorm has ruined everything!”

Mother’s reply brought perspective to her young son, “You know, Bobby, I just got off the phone with Farmer Tanner’s wife. She was praising God for this much needed rain; the crops were in desperate need and they were about to lose everything they’d worked so hard for. She claimed this to be one of the best days ever!”

As with many things, it’s a matter of perspective – even in tragedy. Perhaps your loved one unexpectedly dies in an accident; it’s a horrible day. Yet if that loved one is an organ donor, it’s the best day for those who would die without that much needed heart, kidney, or another organ graciously donated to them. Your worst day is their best day; it’s hinged on the same circumstance, but it’s a matter of perspective, which side of the door one is standing on.

In a very real sense, that’s what Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday are all about: Perspective.

Let’s start with Good Friday. I remember one of my children asking me, “Dad, if that’s the day Jesus died, why do we call it good?” That’s a good question. How can we call Jesus being arrested in the middle of the night, put through a series of rigged trials, beaten beyond recognition, and nailed to a cross until dead while being scoffed at and ridiculed, good?

What happened to our Lord wasn’t “Good” in a moral or pleasant sense; it traditionally means holy or sacred. But where perspective is concerned, it was Jesus’ worst day (as a man): “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” For all of mankind, it was the best day: Christ’s suffering and death made forgiveness, atonement with God, and salvation possible. The prophet Isaiah spoke plainly of this perspective: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isa. 53:5)

The Apostle Paul brought the stark contrast of this perspective to light in 2 Corinthians 5:21. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” However, we must never forget that Jesus did this willingly for us. In John 10, Jesus told His disciples that He lays His own life down, no man takes it from Him.

Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday are inseparable. Jesus’ death upon the cross paid the debt that we could not pay; the resurrection confirmed the acceptance of payment. “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Rom. 4:25) What was good news (the best day) for man, was the worst day for the devil and his minions – “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” (Eph. 4:8)

Puritan Thomas Watson writes of last things: “‘Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to judgment.’ John 5:28-29” …

“Why must there be a day of judgment? That there may be a day of retribution—in which God may render to everyone according to his work. Things seem to be done very unequally in the world: the wicked to prosper—as if they were rewarded for doing evil; and the godly to suffer—as if they were punished for being good. Therefore, for vindicating the justice of God, there must be a day wherein there shall be a righteous distribution of punishments and rewards to men, according to their actions.” …

“It is dreadful news to the wicked, that they shall ‘not stand in judgment,’ that they shall come to judgment—but shall not stand in judgment; they shall not stand acquitted, they shall not stand with boldness—but sneak and hang down their heads, and not be able to look their judge in the face. But it is great consolation to the godly. When the apostle had said, ‘The Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God,’ he presently adds, ‘Therefore comfort one another with these words.’”

There IS coming a day for each one of us that will truly be our very best day or our very worst day, but it won’t be a matter of perspective; it will be a matter of position. Whether it is your very best or very worst day will depend on what you have done with the sacrifice of Christ on Good Friday and if you have been “resurrected with Him (Jesus).” If it is your best day ever, you will hear: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matt. 25:34) If it is your very worst day ever the following words will ring in your ears, tormenting you for all eternity: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.” (Matt. 25:41)

 

To view this article in your browser, Click Here
For more information, articles and newsletters, please check out our website at https://americandecency.org/
You can support ADA financially by visiting: https://give.cornerstone.cc/americandecency

---