Monday Morning Blues: God is Good even when I don't feel good

I struggle to see the silver lining when Monday morning rolls around… the headache, fatigue, and low mood is sometimes so pervasive that I don’t want to look on the bright side. But there is one.

The Monday morning low teaches me to be wholly dependent on God. It’s easy to trust God on a good day. When there is smooth sailing on Sunday, a solid sermon backed by a chorus of “Amens” and “Hallelujah,” sweet strains of musical praise, and sweet treats after church, it’s easy to pat each other on the back and say that God is Good. And He is! He is good in the good times.

But God is also good in the low times. When I am discouraged, God is good. When I am physically tired and weak, God is good. When I am annoyed at my spouse, God is good. When I feel like failure has conquered me, God is very very good.  And so it becomes a discipline, this Monday morning that comes every single week.  My calendar doesn’t lie. There is never a Sunday that isn’t followed up by Monday.  There is never a day of ministry that isn’t followed up by a day that needs a healthy dose of “God is still good even though I don’t feel like it.” There is never a day of discouragement that my Lord and Savior is absent from.  And so I practice my praise, I remember that no matter how lousy I might feel, God is good.

There is no quick fix for this weariness, no easy answer to the lost feeling that comes with the post-Sunday let down. I wish that I could read the perfect combination of Scripture passages and feel perfectly fine. I wish that I could wake up in the morning, meditate on the correct mindset, and be ready to face the week. It’s just not that simple, there is no ‘super-Christian’ response to Monday.

What I do have is the assurance that God loves me. I have the promise of Romans 8:28,that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purposes. That God heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147), God’s loving kindness endures forever (Psalm 136), and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23).

Monday morning may not be a good time, but it is the right time to exercise the truth that God is good even when I don’t feel it. And then, when the good times come, I’ll know the difference between “my circumstances are good” and “God is good.”  So for today, even though Monday doesn’t feel so hot, I’ll keep practicing that God is good. Not because I feel good, but simply because it’s true.