I cannot recount the times when on Saturday I have been eagerly anticipating the next day of worship, when the enemy invasion begins. Why is it that if one of my babies was going to have a sleepless night it had to be a Saturday night? Why was it if a child would get sick it was most often on a Saturday night? Why was it on a Sunday morning I couldn't find the all important hairbrush, pair of socks or someone's shoes? Why would I wake up in a "mood" on a Sunday morning, when I had gone to bed joyful in the Lord and happy in life? Why on a Sunday morning do I find myself frittering away precious time, and end up rushing out the door unprepared for worship?
Can you relate?
One of the answers to these questions is simple: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).
If Satan physically showed up at my door on a Saturday night or Sunday morning demanding entrance, I wouldn't let him in. Yet, he is very present and actively engaging in combat for my soul in my home. This is especially true when I "want to do right" (Romans 7:21). The only answer is: "...I must take up the whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:13). I've been reading again the Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent. In this he says, "As long as I am inside the gospel, I experience all the protection I need from the powers of evil that rage against me. It is for this reason that the Bible tells me to 'take up' and 'put on' the whole armor of God; and the pieces of armor it tells me to put on are all merely synonyms for the gospel. Translated literally from the Greek, they are: '...the salvation...the justification... the truth...the gospel of peace...the faith...[and the]...word of God.' What are all these expressions but various ways of describing the gospel? Therefore, if I wish to stand victorious in Jesus, I must do as the songwriter suggests and 'put on the gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer'" (from "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus," by George Duffield, Jr.).
We do not have control over viruses that become full blown illnesses on Saturday night but we can put on the armor of the Gospel to fight off Satan's attacks toward anger, self-pity, grumbling and complaining. How do we do this at 2 a.m.? By simply crying out to God, in the name of Jesus who intercedes for you and who sympathizes with your weakness (Hebrews 4:14-16). He will draw near to you as you (even weakly and with great fatigue) draw near to Him (James 4:8).
We may not be able to control viruses but we can control the use of our time on a Sunday morning. One thing Tim and I found helpful (though we were often inconsistent) when the kids were little was to have all clothes and Bibles ready to go the night before. Saturday night was the time for looking for that stray shoe. Not Sunday morning.
Sunday morning was not a sleep-in time for us. Being the most important day of the week, we didn't want to miss any of it, or go into it feeling like we were "one step behind." For those of you who have husbands that work the other 6 days, this may be his only time to sleep in. If this is the case, maybe you could serve your husband by rising earlier than him and quietly getting things going before he awakens.
Keep it simple. Ask yourself, ask your husband, what do we put into our Saturday evening and Sunday morning that may be adding to our stress? Is it preparing for a big Sunday breakfast? Or is it staying up late Saturday watching a movie? Or could it be from scrambling to clean house before guests come for Sunday dinner? Sometimes the answer is more obvious than we are willing to admit. Sometimes the stress that occurs on a Sunday a.m. is the result of poor prioritizing of the other six days of the week.
I'd love to hear from you what you have learned over the years what works or doesn't work for you and your family. Would you email them to me? Perhaps we can post them for the benefit of all.
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