In the Morning

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You,And I will look up. Psalm 5:3

Have you ever noticed the difference between waking up with an alarm clock versus sleeping until you naturally wake up? When it comes to doing morning devotions, there is a huge difference between the two. Personally, I love to sleep in. But once I am up, I do not slow down; I make the most of my day. I rarely sit down unless I am eating or in a meeting. So I am thankful to the Lord that I have no trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. It is the waking up that gives me the most trouble.

For years, I set aside a "quiet time," to just be quiet to pray and to read my Bible during the day. But because of my personality and because of the activities of the day competing for my attention (like work, the kids and the phone), I became too distracted to concentrate on the things of God. I would read verses like Psalm 5:3 and know deep within my heart that I needed to get up before the day started. It took a long time and a lot of prayer to get me into the habit and pattern of waking up early. It is only in the early mornings that I am in a better place to hear from the Lord because there is nothing competing against His words. During this quiet time, I can enjoy the freedom from the noise of the day. The house is quiet and peaceful in the pre-dawn hours.

It is funny that if I was going on vacation or needed to catch a plane, I could more easily get out of bed to the buzzing noise of an alarm clock. But how come with the things of God, we resist so much? Personally, I believe it is because we resist the words ‘discipline’ and ‘dependency’. We need to discipline our bodies to wake up early and we do it to show our dependency on needing the Lord to help us. God loves us and has so much to give to us. His ways are of peace. For me, I have learned that an extra hour in bed cannot compare with the peace I receive spending quiet time with Him first thing; for Jesus says, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33).

My encouragement to you is to try it. Set your alarm half an hour earlier than you normally get up and make a commitment to do it every day for a week. And give that half hour to the Lord, ask Him to wake you up to His words and to give you the peace that will carry you throughout your day. When you make this change in your daily habits, God will bless you.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~