Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning before the sun breaks the horizon, an unholy sound breaks your peaceful slumber. This causes the best dream you had all night to break apart like a shattered glass. Your body retches toward the night stand to slap that infernal mechanism that so rudely introduced you to consciousness. Whether it buzzes, rings, or plays music it is the most dreaded sound any human confronts. You can achieve five more minutes of slumber, but it too will shatter. Again you take just five more minutes. This time you will get up for sure. Does this sound familiar?
Why is it that we put ourselves through this torture? If we couldn't stand the sound the first time, why do we believe that five more minutes will allow us the pleasure of sleep without having to get out of bed? Why should we dread the morning? It is the beginning of a new day. The old things have passed away in the night.
I have two children. My son is not a morning person. His body must thaw ever so slowly from the ice age of sleep. If it proceeds too quickly, he gets angry demanding the world around him to leave him alone. My daughter, on the other hand, is a morning person. She awakens immediately and believes everyone in the house should partake in her joyous good fortune. She gives perky a whole new meaning.
Usually what we dread is the coming day. Be it work, school, or chores we do not look upon it as a blessing. After all we have no trouble getting up for vacation, but it takes a near miracle to get to work on time. Ready or not, however, it is time to face the world. The child of God, however, will not be facing this day alone.
Isaiah 51:9-11 (NASB)
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not Thou who cut Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon? Was it not Thou who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; Who made the depths of the sea a pathway for the redeemed to cross over? So the ransomed of the Lord will return, and come with joyful shouting to Zion; And everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Now that we know that the strength of the Lord is with us we have no reason to dread the coming day. As encouraging as these words of truth are, we still struggle with our day don't we? Perhaps it is because we have not properly prepared ourselves. Think about it. You wouldn't dream about going to school or work without bringing your supplies or being properly dressed, etc. The same is true about walking in faith and making yourself different from the world. This should be a joyous task and not drudgery, but what should we do first?
Luke 22:46 (NKJV)
Then He said to them, 'Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.'�
The above scripture is a command by Christ, to His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, who had fallen asleep. In many ways the children of God have fallen asleep, and we need prayer to keep us from the temptations of the world. Prayer, although powerful, is not the whole of our obedience to God.
Ephesians 6:13-18 (NASB)
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take up the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.
This is quite a directive, and so necessary. To sum it up in just a few words, spend some quality time with God. Spending time in the presence of God is more important than spending quality time with your spouse, child, sibling, friend, or parent. By seeking God first we will by association become a better parent, spouse, or child. You say that your schedule it too busy. If the enemy has his way, you will always be too busy. Make the time. Here are two examples between being prepared and not being prepared. The first is a morning that you didn't spend time with God.
Morning without spending time with God:
The alarm rings and you slap it a few times. You make your way slowly to the shower, turn on the water, and let it fall upon you. After that, you shuffle to the pot of coffee waiting in the kitchen. It's empty. Great, you have to make the coffee, but where is it?
'Mommy, mommy, I can't find my socks,'� Child number one calls out in frustration.
'Mom, where are my shoes?'� Child number two asks.
'Honey, where is my brief case?'� Spouse questions in his usual hurry.
'Daddy! Sister is flicking milk at me,'� Child number two complains.
'Stop kicking me! Daddy brother is kicking me!'� screams child number one.
'Stop fighting! Eat your breakfast!'� Dad bellows.
'Where did you put the coffee?'� You ask.
'I don't know, I put it where it always goes,'� Spouse answers.
'Mommy, daddy sprinkled coffee on my cereal!'� Kid number one complains. Having heard enough of this chaos you come out of the kitchen and make a totally ludicrous statement.
'If you don't stop fighting and yelling, I'm going to throw all of you to the moon!'� (I could go on, but you get the general idea.)
Morning after spending time with God:
You awake before the alarm sounds. You shower, pray, and read the bible. After that, you shuffle to the pot of coffee waiting in the kitchen. It's empty. Great, you have to make the coffee, but where is it?
'Mommy, mommy, I can't find my socks,'� Child number one complains.
'Mom! Where are my shoes?'� Child number two asks.
'Honey, where is my brief case?'� Spouse questions in his usual hurry.
'Daddy! Sister is flicking milk at me!'�
'Stop kicking me! Daddy brother is kicking me!'� Child number one complains.
'Stop fighting! Eat your breakfast!'� Dad bellows.
'Where did you put the coffee?'� You ask.
'I don't know, I put it where it always goes,'� Spouse answers.
'Mommy, daddy sprinkled coffee on my cereal!'� Child number one complains. Having heard enough of this chaos you come out of the kitchen and start to make a totally ludicrous statement.... (Wait...this sounds all too familiar. What happened to the strength of our Lord, and the shield? Nothing, it is still there, but is found in us not our circumstances. Faith does not come in trial size. You probably had to fight to stay awake while you read the bible and prayed, and you feel defeated saying nothing has changed.
Faith is not some instant mix that you can pour out of a box. There are no short cuts to faith. Faith comes one step at a time, but to add to your faith you must have a foundation to build upon. That foundation is the word of God, the mortar is praise, and the support beams are prayer. Each trial and experience when met with these three will add a stone of faith. Faith is not without cost. You must earn it by your toil. Should you stumble, He is still faithful.
2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NASB)
It is a trustworthy statement. For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.
You may not even notice the small change made on that first day that you prayed and read the word, but do it again and again and again. Before long you will notice that you are not only different, the people around you will start to notice this difference too. You will discover that the minor disruptions of the morning will not dictate the rest of your day. Who cares if you have on two different colors of socks that you don't notice until you get to the office? If a rock star did it, they would be setting a new fashion trend. Be bold, laugh at yourself. Life is serious enough without letting the smallest of things bring us down into the mud.
Am I saying that you will never lose your temper? No, I am a mother of two. They are my greatest joy and can take me from happy to angry in zero point seven seconds. Just like you I am learning. I don't have all the answers, but I am seeking the Lord who does have all the answers. In my journey I have also discovered that the more time I spend with God the less I want to be away from Him and my family is following. I'm not saying to keep your head so much in heavenly things that you are no earthly good. We have a lot of work to do here, and it is what we do outside the church that is being studied. In that light, we should always be mindful to be a good testimony.
Colossians 3:17 (NASB)
And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
I strive daily to live this scripture in every aspect of my life. I work for my employer as if I were serving the Lord. God recognizes that, and my employer has blessed me for it because of God's favor. Yet even if my employer did not notice, I would still do the same because God notices. Even enduring trials I have noticed that I have gained blessings from God that I didn't even know I gained until I saw through the eyes of others. Patience is a good example. I have never considered myself a patient person. Many times I would vent to my friends at work about my children. They make comments like, 'You have such patience. We could never deal with that as calmly as you did.'� At first I look at them as if they are crazy, but when I think about how I deal with stress now as opposed to a few years ago. I realize I have grown in patience.
While going through daily stresses and problems, we become so blind that we don't see how this could possibly make us stronger. We also tend to believe that the only real reward to going through these times is getting to the end of them. There is so much to gain from these, but we often miss the mark and become swept up in them instead of overtaking them.
James 1:12 (NASB)
'Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Don't let your circumstances deceive you into thinking that your daily devotions are useless. Remain in the word and stay in prayer no matter how much the temperature may rise. Use every morning as a new beginning knowing that something you say or do may make the difference in eternity for someone watching your life. You may not feel as if you have much faith, but to someone else your faith is a fortress. The time is short and the days are evil. Never before has there been such a need to really know the Lord. We need to stop playing church and make our relationship with God our first priority. Being too busy will not hold any water on the day of judgment. Trust God because He knows what we need, it was He who made a time for everything. All we have to do is make sure we keep our priorities in order.
Matthew 6:33 (NASB)
'But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.'�

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