Monday, Monday.
The Mamas and Papas had it right. I just “can’t trust that day.”

And although Sundays may be “easy” according to Lionel Richie, there’s nothing easy about Mondays to me. They are typically my least favorite day of the week. I try to rehearse the truth: THIS is the day the Lord has made. I WILL rejoice and be glad in it.
But on Monday morning the words too often fall on a deaf heart.

There are several reasons that I dread Mondays. Most of them are centered around wrong thinking. It goes something like this in my mind:

It’s over. The weekend is over. Boo.
I loved yesterday and going to church, but the conversations I had were scattered. Did I say too much or too little? Did people feel left out? Did I speak to those I should? Was I engaged? Was I rushed?
And so I fret … about “yesterday”. (Focused too much on the Past)

It’s here. Monday. I feel blah.
I try to pray but my soul feels heavy. I’m weary. I have to fight the feeling to do nothing on Mondays. Is Brent OK? Are my kids well? What about my parents? Groceries? Laundry? My mind is overactive but the voice of Truth is faint.
And so I fret … about “today”. (Focused too much on the Present)

There’s a whole week ahead. Yikes!
I’m making a mental list and checking it twice. People to see. People to check on. Cards to write. I may be on my way to Kentucky to meet my new grandbaby. I may not be.
And so I fret … about “tomorrow”. (Focused too much on the Future)

It’s a pattern in my life that I don’t like but have fought for a long time. And social media hasn’t helped. In recent months I’ve taken a break on Sundays to rest my mind and spirit from the fray. But I should probably consider – and  just do it – giving more time on Mondays to filling my mind and heart with His thoughts.

Last night our home life group talked about the “traditions of men”. It struck me how often we create traditions from right motives, but how they can quickly morph into taking up space in our lives and being a substitute for a genuine, fresh, up-to-date relationship with Jesus.
It’s so easy to do the good stuff – reading, studying, praying, obeying – without really thinking about God or the cross or eternity. For some reason, on Mondays I’m especially aware of the dangers of going through the motions of religion. Maybe it’s because I recognize my failure to rehearse the Truth; that the God of my expressive worship through song and teaching on Sunday is the very same God of my anxiety and fear on Monday. The Truth doesn’t only consist of believing that Christ has risen. It also consists of working itself out by changing my attitude on Monday mornings. I serve a risen Savior every moment!

Pursuing a heart after God will not look exactly the same for every individual. Nor will it look the same for every life group or congregation. Because we have unique marriages and families and friends, we seek to be unified in the Truth, but how that’s lived out will be much more personal. As believers, we meet together to be encouraged and challenged and stirred. Saturday and Sundays aren’t supposed to be our only “good” days. In fact, if it’s genuine, the rest and worship that takes place on the weekend will change our perspective in how we live all our moments and days.

We can get sucked in to a cynical way of thinking about life and church and community unless we allow scripture to be more than our teacher. It must also be our helper. Meeting together is for much more than learning. It is to stir in us love and action. If my Monday isn’t bringing glory to God, then I haven’t allowed the Sunday gathering to equip me at all.

So today I want to fix my eyes on Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of my Monday faith.
I just can’t trust Mondays.
But I can trust HIM!