It’s morning, and honestly, I have no clue what time it is exactly unless I take a moment to look at my phone. There is a clock on my laptop but I still have this habit of reaching for my phone to check the time. That’s not the only thing I look at on my phone. I look at emails, InstaGram, and not too long ago, Facebook. I recently shut down my Facebook account. Sure, it’s great for keeping up-to-date on what everyone is doing, but the reality is, it’s a time-waster.
“I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words.” – Psalm 119:147
For the past week, I’ve been getting up early to spend time with God. Those who have known me for years could tell you that me waking up early to read the Bible or pray is out of the “norm” for me. They wouldn’t believe it and might even say that it will only last for a few weeks due to my “noncommittal” nature. They could very well be right. I have a tendency to be noncommittal in so many areas of my life. Nor do I share about my relationship with God and His Son, Jesus Christ. I will attest that getting up early every morning has been difficult. The alarm goes off and I hit snooze a few times. It’s not that I don’t want to get up, but rather, this is a process that I am working on. I’ve never really been the type to just jump up and bound out of bed to do whatever activities are on my to-do list for the day. What typically occurs is I will tap the snooze button on my phone until the actual time I have determined to physically extract myself from the luscious comfort of my bed. Sometimes it’s 5am; sometimes it’s 7am. It all depends upon what I need to do for daily earthly living (work, school, etc).
“O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” – Psalm 5:3
God says we are to spend time with Him. I’m getting to where I don’t feel right without spending time with Him first thing in the morning. It does make for a super craptastic day in my personal experience. Yes, I said “craptastic”. In examining my past days, I noticed that when I don’t spend time with God right away after waking up, I’m moody, my mouth has no filter, my temper flares and I fly off the handle, and I’m just plain mean. Nothing about me demonstrates any of the godly qualities that I have been gifted with. Nothing demonstrates the love I have for others; nothing is kind or gentle or truthful. Ugh! It makes me appear to be an awful person! I hate that person! (Hate is a very strong word that I try not to use often.)
My mornings upon waking go something like this: I hit the snooze until it’s the actual time, then I use the bathroom, make a cup of coffee, and then I’m on my knees beside my bed. I don’t care how you pray but for me, praying to my Heavenly Father on my knees is a blessing! I am grateful that I have the opportunity to be able to move my body in a way that allows me to worship God.
“so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” – Philippians 2:10
Do you have the time? I bet your day is pretty busy. You are working, being a parent/grandparent/spouse, cleaning your house, running errands, and doing all sorts of things on your to-do list. My question is this, how much of that time is spent doing things for other people and not for God? We get so caught up in those lists we make, focusing on what we didn’t do the day before that we forget who is at the helm of our lives. God is the Master of our to-do list and Manager of our time. Our time isn’t truly ours; it is designed for us to do what God has asked. In the book I am currently studying, Lies Women Believe by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, she points out that at the end of Jesus’ life, he calls out to God saying, “I have finished the work which YOU have given me to do.” Who’s time are we on? Who’s to-do list do we have to accomplish? I find that as I get older, I place less and less importance on household chores. That does not mean that I don’t keep a tidy home; what it means is if you stop by and the dishes aren’t done, it’s perfectly fine as my priority is doing what God wants me to do – spend time with you. I don’t want to be remembered in death as someone who folded laundry while you attempted to have an adult conversation with me. That’s important. I want you to remember me as someone who was always walking in the light and someone you could count on for godly direction.
Now, as I go about my day, I offer small prayers to ensure my to-do list and time management are in alignment with God’s purpose for me.
“I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” – Psalm 132:4-5
Once my earthly day is over, I spend more time with God. It is the hour before I fall asleep and give thanks for what was accomplished during the day. I have times where it doesn’t seem like I’ve done much in the worldly-sense, but at the same time, I don’t know who I may have impacted by exhibiting Christ-like qualities during my daily interactions. I see hundreds of different people every day; what if, what if, there was just that one brief interaction that allowed God’s love to be demonstrated and called a new life to grow closer to Him? Eh, anything is possible! God works in mysterious ways and I, for one, will not question the work He does. It is in His time that all will be accomplished on His to-do list.
My thought is this: if you have time for social media, then you have even more time for God. God doesn’t want us to keep up with the Kardashians or the neighbors or our friends who appear to have it all. We are not to be comparing ourselves with the business of others. God’s to-do list is different for everyone. Most importantly, He wants us to keep time with Him.
Do you have the time? The time to give God the opportunity to work in your life and strengthen your relationship with Him? Don’t stress or worry over what you didn’t accomplish yesterday. Focus on what you did do on God’s to-do list. He’ll get everything else done for you.
This Is All Of Me 