PatH Reflection 7 (14 April 2014)

I hate Mondays. When I was working outside home, I dread every Monday morning. The daunting tasks of mindless administration, meaningless politicking, purposeless pursuit of performance bonus (or at least not to be looked upon as surplus) greeted me every Monday morning, knowing well that I will never do well in any of these. Each Sunday night, fear began its grip on me. By the wee hours of the new week, I was fully engulfed by trepidation. I woke up many a Monday morning, whimpering like a beaten puppy, moping like a monkey in a cage.

 

And so escape I did. Out of the savage jungle I ran, from that which had sought to devour my deepest desire to make a difference, only to tread into the jungle again, this time as a tourist, playing my part to preserve what I can and ignore the rest.

 

Now having been pulled out of the jungle to stay fully at home, I realized I dread Mondays too. I fear my wife’s going to work. I fear that I can’t take good care of my kids, or if I might just burn down the kitchen when distracted with petite arguments among the siblings, or if littlest one may just get lost in the jungle of her own home and be found sampling the toilet bowl water, or the older ones making the littlest one their guinea pig for weird experiments. And the greatest fear of all, this is only Monday! Can I survive the week?

 

My heavenly Father is great. Long before I had confirmed my PatH, He gave me a verse for this year. It was this verse that almost immediately stopped all my fears for today and gave me strength to do what I need to do. “For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control” (2Tim 1:7) How sweet is the sound of God’s word, how refreshing and empowering is the stream of living water and the bread of life.