Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
Ps. 46:10
Monday. There is a reason why 90% of all pastoral resignations occur on this day. Blue Monday it is called in the profession.
Why?
The emotional and physical letdown is palatable after all the positive energy is released on Sunday. I love preaching. I love leading worship. I love being with people and the folks in my church. Sunday is great!
In fact, it is a huge adrenaline rush!
Why?
The emotional and physical letdown is palatable after all the positive energy is released on Sunday. I love preaching. I love leading worship. I love being with people and the folks in my church. Sunday is great!
In fact, it is a huge adrenaline rush!
The problem with adrenaline rushes is that they end. When they do, the physical body experiences a let down. In my case, and in the case of many other pastors, the result is waking up on Monday to an unmistakeable weariness. I think it just goes along with the job.
The good news is that it begins to lift by about 3 in the afternoon on Monday. By Tuesday morning, if I get good rest, I feel like new again!
I think this experience, and experiences like it, need to be understood for what they are. We are bodily creatures. No matter how spiritual we are, no matter how strong, we are bodily. Stress, even good stress like a Sunday at work, causes physical reactions. The adrenaline rush then letdown response is part of living in a fallen world in a bodily form. We need to understand it and work around it.
Where in the Bible do we see such a response? I think we see it in 1 Kings 18-19. Here Elijah defeats the prophets of Baal. In a great miracle, God shows He is greater than the false gods of Baal, who claim to be the gods of fire. The people see the hand of God, and in response they fall on their faces and they shout "The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God!" I would love to have this response to preaching and worship!
Elijah oversees a rout of the evil prophets. He then faces a threat from Jezebel, who is not even present, and he runs for his life. Finally, he "sits under a broom tree and asks that he might die."
This is the Monday morning blues times 100!
Thankfully, God did not condemn him, but he met with him and gave him strength. God then spoke the promises into his life. God is at work! Even when Elijah does not feel it to be so, even when he is full of doubts, even when he walks in fear, God speaks truth and life to him in a still small voice.
This is always my goal for Monday mornings. I get some administrative stuff done. I try to follow up on Sunday's needs. Yet, I take time to listen for and to the still small voice.
The good news is that it begins to lift by about 3 in the afternoon on Monday. By Tuesday morning, if I get good rest, I feel like new again!
I think this experience, and experiences like it, need to be understood for what they are. We are bodily creatures. No matter how spiritual we are, no matter how strong, we are bodily. Stress, even good stress like a Sunday at work, causes physical reactions. The adrenaline rush then letdown response is part of living in a fallen world in a bodily form. We need to understand it and work around it.
Where in the Bible do we see such a response? I think we see it in 1 Kings 18-19. Here Elijah defeats the prophets of Baal. In a great miracle, God shows He is greater than the false gods of Baal, who claim to be the gods of fire. The people see the hand of God, and in response they fall on their faces and they shout "The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God!" I would love to have this response to preaching and worship!
Elijah oversees a rout of the evil prophets. He then faces a threat from Jezebel, who is not even present, and he runs for his life. Finally, he "sits under a broom tree and asks that he might die."
This is the Monday morning blues times 100!
Thankfully, God did not condemn him, but he met with him and gave him strength. God then spoke the promises into his life. God is at work! Even when Elijah does not feel it to be so, even when he is full of doubts, even when he walks in fear, God speaks truth and life to him in a still small voice.
This is always my goal for Monday mornings. I get some administrative stuff done. I try to follow up on Sunday's needs. Yet, I take time to listen for and to the still small voice.
Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
Ps. 46:10
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