Why It’s Good to Hate Mondays

Calendar

I don’t like Mondays.

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this. Monday marks the beginning of my work week, and I don’t know anyone who gets as excited about the beginning of their work week as they do about the end. Oh sure, we could talk about having a positive attitude. About loving our jobs and the people we work with. We could even talk about the importance of work and the opportunity to do our work to God’s glory. In another post, I might talk about all those things too. But let’s be honest. A typical Monday is just never as fun as a typical Saturday. It’s just not. On this point, I and the majority population agree.

But here’s where I and the majority population differ. I don’t like Mondays… and I’m glad.

Yes, that’s right. I’m glad to not like Mondays. This wasn’t always true. For a time I even tried to convince myself to like Monday. (Futile, really.) Then I came to the sudden realization that I was going about it all wrong. It wasn’t my attitude about Monday that had to change. It was my attitude about my attitude about Monday that had to change. Deep down I have come to know: it is good to hate Mondays.

Hating Monday means that I had a fun weekend that I didn’t want to have end. Hating Monday means that there is someplace I would rather be than whatever weekday obligation beckons. Hating Monday means that there are people whom I love that I want to spend more time with.

Don’t miss my point.

I thank God for every Monday that I drag my tired feet into the office, because it reminds me just how blessed my life is. If there are other places I could be, other things I could do, other people I could love, then that means there are other places, things, and people in my life.

If that’s true for you, too, thank God.

But maybe this isn’t true for you. Maybe, in fact, you wait for Monday. Maybe you lost someone you love and are struggling to grasp that void. Or maybe graduation or a career change or a family move has driven you away from the familiar and into a startling loneliness. Maybe you’re facing news you don’t know how to handle. Maybe you’re simply grasping at Monday because you need something, anything, to hang onto.

I’ve been there, too, my friend. I have stared into that big, open, empty stretch of a Saturday that I somehow had to fill. And I have waited for Monday.

Winter Field
Do not confuse fallowness with emptiness. (Photo by Janet Beagle)

Most of us need some structure in our lives. God designed us that way. In the Bible, God outlined the seven days that make up our week (Exodus 20:9-11). He detailed a calendar of festivals and times of worship (Leviticus 23). And He dictated a pattern of work and rest covering six years of planting and harvest, but a Sabbath year for the ground to lie fallow (Exodus 23:10-11).

Maybe God knows something we should pay attention to. Like the fact that our lives also go through phases. There are periods of festival and thanksgiving. There are periods of incredible productivity and harvest. And then there are periods of fallowness.

Do not confuse fallowness with emptiness.

God gives to us every season of our lives. And God gives to us in every season of our lives. A barren field may look like a wasteland, but do not be fooled. God is planting something deep during those periods of rest. And He is planting something deep within you as well, even as you’re waiting for Monday. It doesn’t matter if you can’t see it. It doesn’t matter if you can’t feel it. It doesn’t matter how many tears you cry. God is preparing the soil of your soul. He is planting His presence within you. He has a plan for the next phase of your life, and He is preparing you for it. Do not discount this period of fallowness.

Every seven days God gives us another Monday. Whether it’s an annoying disruption to your weekend plans, the start of a productive week, or simply the structure you hold onto while you wait, recognize God’s gifts within this day. He is producing, He is planting. He is the vine supporting our branches. He is nudging us to recognize the blessings around us.

When we use it as a tool to recognize God’s blessings in our lives, even hating Mondays can be good.

 

Janet Beagle
Janet Beagle, Ph.D.

Janet Beagle, Ph.D. serves as director of graduate admissions for Purdue University and is a writer, a Bible study teacher, and a student of God’s word. In her spare time, she likes to eat other people’s cooking and hike with her dog, Marly. Read more of Janet’s Christian reflections at www.mustardpatch.org, and follow her @minimustard.