TGIF

The Lord is continuing to show us the importance of our mental health.  Jesus offers us his peace, but we must receive it by faith.  “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).  Our mental health is in jeopardy if we allow our circumstances to dictate our mood.  In this world we will always have issues, problems, and concerns; we must learn to step into God’s spiritual kingdom, by faith, and allow the peace of God to rule in our hearts.  If you belong to God, heaven is your home, and you are assured that you will spend eternity in God’s kingdom.  This fact can be used to mentally elevate yourself above your problems, in the end we win.  A common tactic used by the enemy to bring stress into our lives is TGIF syndrome. 

TGIF, thank God it’s Friday, is an affirmation used by most working people.  If you are off on the weekends, Friday is in fact a wonderful day.  However, to say TGIF usually implies that Monday to Thursday are days of dread.  For the TGIF crowd, Mondays are the worst; it is the beginning of a week of pain, anxiety, and stress.  Sundays can even bring about anxiety because it is a foreshadowing of bad things soon to come.  To a lot of working Christians, every week is a rush towards Friday which means that they suffer anxiety at least 4 days out of the week.  So their lives become a vicious and monotonous cycle of 5 days of pain followed by one or two days of relief. This is a terrible way to live, and God does not want his children to fall into this trap.   

This may seem like a trivial issue, but many Christians are stressed out and burned out because they allow worldly situations to determine their level of joy and peace.  God’s way is not Satan’s way.  God wants you to walk in peace at all times.  This does not mean that you are oblivious to the problems that you face, but you maintain your peace because God is always with you; the victory is already ours in Christ.  “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10).  God promises to be with us, to help us, to strengthen us, and to sustain us by his power.  With a promise like this from God’s word, we should TGED, thank God “every” day. 

Every day can be a day of rest when we walk with God.  We can love Mondays, and every day, because God is with us.  “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3).  The day of the week, or any outward situation, is not the determiner of our peace.  Our peace comes from staying “spiritually” in the presence of God.  Life becomes an adventure when our eyes are focused on God because we become very aware of God’s presence and his love.