Today's thought - 24 August 2026 (It is Monday)

How are you, my friend? It is Monday – again. There is always that negative connotation to Mondays. People would say things like, “It is Monday” as a reference to things normally goes wrong or they would say, “It is another blue Monday”, where they refer to all that had gone wrong.

This weekend God gave me these verses from Romans 5, and I guess today they make more sense than earlier in the weekend.

“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope”. Romans 5:3-4 NKJV.

Sometimes life can be life. And life can have a few obstacles that we might feel we did not really need at that time or even better, we could do without. You see we would connect a Monday to bad stuff after a weekend but personally I feel that in my case almost every day is Monday then. Things go wrong and I face obstacles and battles every day of the week. Some days are better and some days are just plainly from hell.

I wrote to you last week about a very important concept where Jesus says in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing”.

We looked at the importance of consistently being connected to our Lord and seeking Him daily. Our Pastor said it is in our time with the Lord and our consistent reading of the Bible that builds this principal. In other words what we fill our minds with, with be visible in our fruit. As I said last week Jesus does not want us to just bear fruit, but much fruit.

Now coming back to blue Mondays and all the stuff that could go wrong. Paul makes it simple. He says that we should be happy in our tribulations and our challenges. Ok, well is he serious? When all hell breaks loose, we should jump up and dance on the tables. Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating a bit there but in essence he says, “Well be happy when things are going soar”. I do not know about you but that is the opposite of my reaction when things go south or not as I would like it to go. When people say bad things about you, when you are late for work, when you are stuck in traffic, when someone offended you or even when your toast is burned.

You see being happy about and stuff has always been the last thing on my mind and when I fail, oh my word I get depressed. Then you would hear things like, “I am not good enough” or “I am alone in all this” or “How the heck can I do this”. You see we are worldly orientated to be negative first and then after hours of complaining we will get up and try again. Paul continues and says that in your tribulation you will grow. In your tribulation you will produce perseverance and perseverance will lead to character building and character building will lead to hope. And we know now that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.  

So, what is Paul saying. Well, he is simply stating that once you have abided (connected) with our Lord Jesus and you have fully surrendered all to Him knowing that you can do nothing without Him and with Him you can do all things. Then you will realise that in your tribulations and in your battles, God is building perseverance and character so that you can have a hope and a future. It is in these obstacles that we have each day that we are drawn closer to the Holy Spirit so that our relationship with the Holy Spirit will increase. Then we will fully comprehend what Jesus said when He said, “Come to me all who are tired and heavily burdened, and He will give us rest”.

My dear friend I am remined today that in Isaiah 53 we read, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our  peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed”.

Do not let the lies of the enemy steal your joy and your peace today. Say after me, “The rest of this day will be the best of my day, and the rest of this week will be the best of my week”.

Have an awesome day, my friend.