Coping With Monday Morning

By Terry Virgo

For many people the alarm clock on Monday morning is as welcome a sound as the dentist’s drill. Another week looms ahead. Back to the grindstone! Count the days until Saturday! Before I became a Christian I regarded weekdays as a necessary evil and lived for the weekends. After I became a Christian I found that transformation is gloriously possible.

It’s great to enjoy weekends! I am sure God enjoyed His first rest day. He looked back over a week of work well done and anticipated future weeks without trepidation. He blessed the day of rest and Jesus later told us it was made for man. But what about Mondays?
Can the Holy Spirit do anything about them?

Face the facts

First, we need to acknowledge a few facts. God has appointed both work and rest. Work is not part of the curse; He gave Adam a job before the fall (Gen. 2:15). However, as a result of his rebellion, Adam was told, ‘By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread’ (Gen. 3:19). An element of difficulty was introduced.

In the New Testament church, Christians were exhorted to work. Paul declares, ‘If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.’ Jesus himself set an example by working in the carpenter’s shop. We work that we might not be in need (1 Thess. 4:12), that we might not burden others (2 Thess. 3:8–12), and so that we can give to others (Eph. 4:28). God has also ordained a day of rest. But having rested we once again face Monday.

Snares to avoid

We are often in danger of making false divisions of sacred and secular. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 (literally), ‘I am with you all the days.’ He comes with us to our place of work as much as to our ‘place of worship’. Indeed, our place of work can become our ‘place of worship’. I like the sign over the kitchen sink: ‘Divine worship is conducted here three times a day.’

We can also regard the weekend as escape from reality. I recall from my commuting days an advertisement on Victoria Station which said, ‘Escape to Brighton!’ I knew many people who would happily have escaped from Brighton! The weekend is not an escape from reality but a time of recreation. Properly used, it relaxes and re-energises us for another week. The Christian never needs to flee from reality. He can confront it, believing God has an answer for every situation. If God created the world, ordained work and provided the rest day, He is well able to prepare us for Monday morning.

We can have a mountaintop experience on Sunday and the idea of erecting a permanent dwelling there can be enticing. But Jesus led His disciples back down from the Mount of Transfiguration to the arena of life where more battles were to be fought and won. Faith must be applied in everyday life. If God is ordering my life, planning for me in love and going before me as my friend, Monday need not be an ordeal. I will walk with Him into it.

The weekend provides the opportunity to recharge our physical or mental batteries. Prepare your attitude for Monday morning on Sunday night, like preparing your Monday clothing the previous evening. Gird your mind for action! Are you going into a new week with unforgiven sin on your mind, like egg on your tie? Is condemnation weighing heavily as though you were heading to the office still wearing muddy gardening boots? Are you going to start a new day still angry with your wife over last night’s argument? Examine yourself. Get cleansed. Get ready! Also, If we know our employment involves us in unrighteousness, we cannot draw on the grace of God. Satan is the accuser and he knows about every crack in your armour.

Instead of being passively resigned to Monday morning, we should ‘gird our minds for action’ (1 Pet. 1:13) as a Roman soldier would gird his flowing robe to prevent tripping. Some people rush out of the house, briefcase in one hand, unfinished toast in the other. We can be equally unprepared spiritually and mentally, and then wonder why we fall at Satan’s first trip-wire.

Jesus said he came to give us abundant life. That does not mean that Christians will always find dream jobs, tailor-made to express their personality. The Scriptures do not indicate that work is for the expressing of your personality. It seems always to be linked with earning your daily bread. But it is possible to experience peace and joy, however frustrating or mundane it may be. The key is bringing a spirit of excellence into the job you have. It requires being faithful, being diligent and being trustworthy in little that you might be given much (Luke 16:10–12). David guarded his father’s sheep with diligence and later God gave him a nation to shepherd. When Joseph was unjustly thrown into prison, he served faithfully and glorified God there. God took care of his eventual promotion.

Faith has a twin called obedience. When we are walking in obedience, it is easier to walk in faith. Coping with Monday morning is not simply a matter of feelings and moods but is built on the strong foundations of obedience and faith.

Check your motivation. If you take a position looking only for financial gain or career advancement without seeking first the kingdom, Monday morning can become a real pressure. Consider kingdom principles and let the peace of God rule in your heart when making a decision about a job.

Strengthened with all power

In Colossians, Paul records a remarkable prayer in which he gathers a collection of ‘power words’. He prays that the Colossians might be strengthened with all power according to the might of his glory. Why is this great arsenal of words being marshalled? Is he going to pray that they might be able to raise the dead? As it turns out, it is simply that they might be able to attain steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks to the Father (Col. 1:11).

This is the miracle that Paul is praying for – joyful consistency! To obtain it, we need all the power of God, and that is exactly what is available to us! We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit if we are to cope with Monday morning. We are not called merely to grit our teeth and endure, but to be happy and peaceful in God. This is our inheritance. Steadfastness without joy is not simply the cake without the cream; it is subnormal Christianity. The joy of the Lord is not a luxury for extroverts, it is our strength. Paul prayed for the Colossian church that their steadfastness and patience would be characterised by joy.

Also, don’t forget the gifts of the Spirit, especially speaking in tongues. Paul reminded the Corinthians that speaking in tongues builds us up (1 Cor. 14:4), adding that he spoke in tongues more than any of them (v18). Monday morning may have had little significance in Paul’s life but he certainly coped with midnight in the Philippian jail!

Be filled with the Spirit, making melody in your heart to the Lord. Monday morning blues cannot compete with a saint who has the high praises of God in his mouth and a two-edged sword in his hand! (Ps. 149:6) His colleagues at work had better look out too!

Rise and shine

Jesus promised, ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witnesses.’ He gives power to witness not only with words but by transformed lives. Jesus was the Word made flesh and we are ‘living letters, known and read by all men … written by the Spirit of the living God’ (2 Cor. 3:2, 3). Every Monday morning living letters are sent from Christ into offices, factories, shops and schools. The atmosphere they meet often consists of frustration, tension, anxiety, fear and complaining (especially on Monday morning!). In that setting, we are ‘known and read’ by men.

God wants us in the real world as shining lights. A thankful attitude in a world of ingratitude can be powerful. Where fear and anxiety abound, we can exhibit the peace of God that passes understanding. Where cheating is commonplace, let us love righteousness and hate lawlessness. Often workplaces are a context for moaning and complaining, so let’s bring an antidote of joy and contentment. Our church-going will mean little to our colleagues at work if Monday morning affects us as it does them.
As darkness gathers in the earth, the Lord has promised that his glory will rise upon us (Isa. 60:1–3). People will be drawn by the brightness of our rising. How bright is your rising on Monday morning? Rise and shine, for your light has come!