Yea, you read this right. Stop stressing! I know you’re probably trying to figure out how to keep your account from going into the negative after spending over the weekend or how to make the little food or the gas you have left stretch until payday but baby, just breath. If your account goes into the negative now, there’s nothing you can do to stop it unless you scratch off a few hundred dollars on a jumbo buck lottery ticket, so scratch that off your worrying list. The food you got left in the cabinets or refrigerator, make it do what you can and let God do the rest. You should know by now that God won’t allow you to suffer long. He’ll make it where that same food, you have in the freezer, will still be there on Friday because He will send folks your way to feed you and your children all week. He’ll make it where your gas light will never come on even though you know it should be. He’ll even give you a little extra to offset the negative balance in your checking account. Why? Because He is just like that. Now, get this… notice I didn’t say that God will keep your account from going into the negative but I said He’ll give you the extra means to get it out of the negative. Now, you’re asking, “But isn’t the blessing in keeping the account from being negative?” The answer is no because the blessing comes over the storm, situation or circumstance because if God allowed everything to be fixed before you had to endure it, what would you actually be thankful for? How would you appreciate the sun if it never goes down? How would you appreciate being up if you’ve never been down?
See, Monday comes with mess, Tuesday has Temptations, Wednesday brings weeping, Thursday has troubles, Friday holds failure but then Saturday comes with strength that allows you to dance into Sunday with Soul Stirring Salvation that makes you capable of handling the recurring week of Monday mess, Tuesday Temptations and etc. Don’t be too hard on Monday because it’ll come again just as sure as you live. Yet, be thankful. Get up with joy and thanksgiving and then YOU set the tone for your day. If you allow God to direct your path, then you’ll have joy all day long, but if you allow the devil and his folks to steal the joy you have, then they’ve allowed you to push God to the back because God is your joy. If there is no joy in your face, your light of God is off which means you need to add some oil to your lamp by praying, fasting and studying God’s word more. And stop blaming the side of the bed you get up on, because it isn’t the problem when you know you sleep on the same side every night. Stop blaming your spouse because if they make you unhappy, make some changes. Stop blaming the job because if it has you stressed out, find a new one. Stop blaming the car because it wouldn’t start, God gave your legs strength today, so walk to the bus stop or call a friend. Stop blaming folk who keep letting you down when you knew they couldn’t keep a promise if it was tied to their arm. God says in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” Which means, even though the world brings you trouble, I’ve already taken over the world, so I got you covered, as long as I’m with you. Jesus says in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.” Now, the world hated Jesus enough to beat him all night long, drag him from judgment hall to judgment hall, make him wear a crown of thorns, speared in the side, nailed his hands and feet to a cross that he had to bear and afterwards buried him in a borrowed grave when he had done no wrong, so comparing your minor troubles to this, has no comparison. When you’re able to handle all those things, then you can complain but until then, rejoice in knowing that God never brings mess that doesn’t have a message.
So, yes Monday, today is a blessing so stop stressing. Yea, you probably woke up (like me with a headache) but the blessing is you woke up. Someone could have found you cold with no warm blood flowing through your veins, so imagine how their Monday would have been. Ok, you couldn’t find the shirt you wanted to wear, the car wouldn’t start or you had a flat tire and now you’re running late but you’re in your right mind so you’re still being blessed. Stop stressing over the fact that traffic is heavy because you can’t change it. Stop stressing over the things people say about you because it’ll only matter if you allow it too. Stop stressing because he or she walked out on you, they didn’t belong to you anyway. If you’re wondering how to get your happiness back, how to move on after being hurt, how to find another job when the one you’ve had for years laid you off, how to get your life back after chemo or dialysis or after the death of a loved one; it’s simple, get up and move! You can’t move if your legs are stationary, you’ve got to start walking. Leave all the mess in the past and walk out of it. Folks can only hurt you when you give them access to and folks can only take your happiness when you’re handing it out. So, stop wallowing in self-pity and doubt. Get up out the rut you’ve thrown yourself in and do something. If you don’t like your weight, exercise. If you don’t like your hair; cut it, color it or add some to it. It’s not because it’s Monday that has you in a bad mood, it’s you. Just as fast as Monday came this morning, Tuesday is on the way, so get prepared. Use Monday’s mess as a message, Tuesday’s Temptations as a testimony, Wednesday’s weeping as a weapon, Thursday’s trouble as a test and Friday’s failure as a footstool. Whatever you go through is not as a means to take you out but simply a way to prepare you for something greater. So smile, because your face and your attitude look better when you do.
Lakisha, the Author 