If you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen me post #Wholearmormondays on my page a time or two. I thought it might be necessary to explain how it came about and why it serves a purpose in my life.

Background: As some of you know, I am currently in a transitional phase in my career. Before I became a Chef I had a corporate job as an Office Manager. I would consider it a high stress job, though certainly not on the level of Police Officers or Doctors. The work was important and impacted people’s livelihood. Stressful at times, indeed. The year 2011 was a really bad year for me. My skies came falling down all around me. In turn it affected my professional space (which I didn’t realize at the time). Needless to say, I was left with quite a mess to clean up in 2012. The fact that I was still on the road to personal recovery / well-being coupled with the volume and stress of our workload began to take a toll on me, particularly on Mondays. I was on edge and couldn’t tolerate additional stressors with ease.

Lemon: While I know that there are a number of people out there who have the “Monday Blues”, I wasn’t one of them before all of this. I like challenges. I like to be busy and utilized. I love business. Heck, I even loved my job at one point. So what changed? Why did I find myself dreading Monday mornings like so many of my fellow Americans? I was so out of sorts… Sometimes I would have trouble concentrating and getting started. Sometimes I would be overwhelmed to tears by lunch break. I found myself having to escape the walls of my office to blow off steam. (Before, I was the kind of person who worked through lunch without a second thought). But everything had changed. I needed relief… I tried it all. I would eat something I had no business eating. It made me feel better for about an hour. Or I would go for a walk. I would come back sweaty and depleted of energy. There were even days when drove to the beach. (My job was about 5 miles from the nearest beach). If only for a second, I would drive over there just so I could find a place to breathe.

Lesson: One day I decided to take a stand. I had enough of the complaining and crying. I realized that it was up to me to set the tone of the day. It was especially important to set the proper tone on Monday because it was the first day of my week. Everything else was a breeze (until Friday – but that’s a different story entirely) The first step in setting the tone for my day was controlling what came out of my mouth. There was no more, “Oh, God it’s Monday again! Why me?” I knew that I had to stop declaring a stressful day and start declaring victory. Since Mondays felt like a war zone, I started preparing myself for battle. It was time to use Spiritual Warfare. I exhausted everything, including myself, trying to do it on my own.

I had given my circumstances so much power and authority over me that I lost myself. I forgot why I went to work (not just for the paycheck) and more importantly, I stopped wanting to. I knew that it was time to re-gain control. I had to start with Mondays and I needed my armor. Initially I decided to start taking my Bible to work. Now of course, in Corporate America that is frowned upon. I kept it in my car. I didn’t go around telling everyone. I just went to my car to read my Bible during my break times. I had other related materials as well, but the Bible was my source of everything. One particular Monday morning I walked out and left it. I went back to get it and said to myself, “I can’t go to work without my sword”. That’s how the “Whole Armor of God” worked its way into my weekly routine.

From then on, I went to work on Mondays with my armor on. I was excited to finally find the thing that worked for me. So much so, I had to share it. I am happy to see that some of my friends have caught on. They wear their armor on Mondays too! It’s amazing how God changes our perspective on things when we allow Him into our space.

I know that some of you are working meaningless, thankless, un-fulfilling jobs. I understand what you are going through and I pray for your strength, courage, and opportunity to change that. But in the mean time remember that ultimately you work for God, not man. God wants your talent and skill to be put to its best utilization in every circumstance. Our gifts (those we use in our work) are to be utilized, cherished, appreciated, and rewarded accordingly. It is ultimately up to you to do your best work no matter what. It is up to you to control yourself in your circumstances and not be consumed by them. Walk out the door with your armor on. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Take back your Mondays! (Or any other day that has waged war on you)

#Wholearmormondays

References – James 4:7, Ephesians 6:11-17, Psalm 91:11-12, Joshua 1:8