It was one of those days. Hectic, pressure filled, with deadlines and decisions. Every time I sat down to work on something, the phone would ring or there would be another interruption. I thought that if only I could close the door, things would be fine.

But I found that I was still exasperated with the tasks before me. Yes, it was one of those days, and I needed a quiet moment—more than a quiet moment. The problem was not in all the distractions and pressures in front of me. I found the problem in the impatience, worry, anxiety, and fear within. I realized that what I really needed was a reminder of who I was and why I was here. I needed reassurance of God’s love in Jesus Christ.

Several years ago I received a gift of a book of Bible passages with Luther quotes arranged for each day. They are short little quotes that fit on one page. What I like about the book is that these quotes bring me back to justification by grace through faith. Luther, understandably, had a way of doing that. I like to read the quote each day, but the book somehow gets buried under things on my desk. Days like this one cause me to look for it.

On this particular day, the reading reminded me that I am a child of God in spite of my sins. God has clothed me with the perfect righteousness of Christ and made me his. That brought peace within. It was what I needed. The reading assured me that being a child of God is God’s own designation.

My sinful nature whispers so frequently that I don’t need this assurance, and I listen to its seductive temptation. When I do, I find myself spinning my wheels. Sadly, the sound of my own wheels prompts me to work harder only to discover that at the end of the day, I’ve been very busy but done little. I’ve lost the wonder of what God has done in what I want to do. I forget who I am—a child of God declared free of sin because of Jesus.

We’ve all had those days. Some of them are worse than others. Some people have worse days than others. On those days, I think it helps to remember that we are children of God. That’s not wishful thinking or some vague notion of a spiritual connection with the Almighty. His Word says so.

All of our human faults and shortcomings—all our sins—have been covered by the forgiveness that Jesus Christ shed his blood to win. God loves us in Jesus Christ. That’s peace. It helps us stop obsessing about what we are doing or not doing even when impatience, worry, anxiety, and fear barge into our lives.