Wake-up Call
I often listen to various sermons throughout the week, so much so, that my children once said, my favorite TV show is “church” during a Mother’s Day exercise. Recently, I was mowing the lawn-- and of course-- listening to a sermon through my earbuds. The Pastor was doing a series on the parables of Jesus, the parable that he was preaching about was that of the wedding feast found in Luke chapter 14. Jesus is at a dinner hosted by a prominent Pharisee in the community. He has just healed a blind man on the sabbath and this was the second parable Jesus told at this dinner. Jesus describes how the banquet was all prepared, but the guests kept coming up with excuses as to why they could not attend. One of the things the Pastor kept honing in on was how it was “inconvenient” for the guests invited to the wedding banquet to attend when the Masters servants called them. He asked, “What is making you hold back from following Jesus?” “What is your inconvenience?” Whoa…those questions stopped me in my track. I felt so convicted.
With so much vying for my attention right now, I have to admit that one of the things I struggle with is getting up early to spend time in the word, praying before the rest of my family gets up. With four kids, it is an understatement to say I love my sleep. There is nothing I cherish more than one more minute of uninterrupted sleep, but I have been feeling convicted. Once I wake up and start my day, I am like a horse out on the track, I run and run until the race is over, getting breakfast ready, making sure the boys are logged into remote learning, making sure the baby is changed and finding something for my toddler to do while “school” is in session. It is chaotic and beautiful all at the same time raising young kids, but especially challenging during a pandemic. However, in the rush of my day, I barely get any quiet time with my Heavenly Father. My time with the Lord has been compromised. I kept making excuses and saying, “I need this sleep Lord,” but that still small voice whispered to me as He did to David in Psalm 143:8 “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”
With a promise like that, why would I hesitate to wake up early. God promises not only to remind me of his unfailing love for me, but he also assures that He will help me navigate through my busy days. Why wouldn’t we all want that blueprint? Especially in 2020. The Lord promises that His mercies are new every morning (Psalm 92), and as a mom of young children, I need that mercy and forgiveness every day.
So, I stopped making excuses and I set my alarm for a wake-up call two hours earlier than the rest of my crew. I am not going to lie, the first two weeks were awesome and when my alarm went off, I was ready to get in my word, spend time with the Lord and commit my day to Him. Instead of complaining about my circumstances, I recited my gratitude for God’s provision. The upside was I actually had way more energy throughout the day which helped tremendously with the beautiful chaos surrounding me.
But starting in the third week, I started to fall into the same bad habits of hitting snooze and making the same excuses as to why I couldn’t get up out of those warm covers. I immediately started to beat myself up and even criticize myself as being just like the guests invited to the wedding feast-- sleep was more important.
Thankfully, our Heavenly Father knows our hearts and He can see the desires of our hearts, He promises that if we are faithful with little; we will be faithful with much (Luke 16:10). So, I may not get up early every single morning, but the mornings I do are gratifying. It is in those days that I feel extra privileged to commit my day to Him, thank Him for His continued provision and pray over my children.
Regardless of my human frailty, I take great hope that my role as a mother to a future generation is another form of worshipping Him. He is good all the time and His mercies are new every morning, not just the mornings I can get up early. Be encouraged to give God a portion of your time during the day, He is with you waiting and He will meet you wherever you are willing to meet Him just say “Yes” to the invitation.
With so much vying for my attention right now, I have to admit that one of the things I struggle with is getting up early to spend time in the word, praying before the rest of my family gets up. With four kids, it is an understatement to say I love my sleep. There is nothing I cherish more than one more minute of uninterrupted sleep, but I have been feeling convicted. Once I wake up and start my day, I am like a horse out on the track, I run and run until the race is over, getting breakfast ready, making sure the boys are logged into remote learning, making sure the baby is changed and finding something for my toddler to do while “school” is in session. It is chaotic and beautiful all at the same time raising young kids, but especially challenging during a pandemic. However, in the rush of my day, I barely get any quiet time with my Heavenly Father. My time with the Lord has been compromised. I kept making excuses and saying, “I need this sleep Lord,” but that still small voice whispered to me as He did to David in Psalm 143:8 “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”
With a promise like that, why would I hesitate to wake up early. God promises not only to remind me of his unfailing love for me, but he also assures that He will help me navigate through my busy days. Why wouldn’t we all want that blueprint? Especially in 2020. The Lord promises that His mercies are new every morning (Psalm 92), and as a mom of young children, I need that mercy and forgiveness every day.
So, I stopped making excuses and I set my alarm for a wake-up call two hours earlier than the rest of my crew. I am not going to lie, the first two weeks were awesome and when my alarm went off, I was ready to get in my word, spend time with the Lord and commit my day to Him. Instead of complaining about my circumstances, I recited my gratitude for God’s provision. The upside was I actually had way more energy throughout the day which helped tremendously with the beautiful chaos surrounding me.
But starting in the third week, I started to fall into the same bad habits of hitting snooze and making the same excuses as to why I couldn’t get up out of those warm covers. I immediately started to beat myself up and even criticize myself as being just like the guests invited to the wedding feast-- sleep was more important.
Thankfully, our Heavenly Father knows our hearts and He can see the desires of our hearts, He promises that if we are faithful with little; we will be faithful with much (Luke 16:10). So, I may not get up early every single morning, but the mornings I do are gratifying. It is in those days that I feel extra privileged to commit my day to Him, thank Him for His continued provision and pray over my children.
Regardless of my human frailty, I take great hope that my role as a mother to a future generation is another form of worshipping Him. He is good all the time and His mercies are new every morning, not just the mornings I can get up early. Be encouraged to give God a portion of your time during the day, He is with you waiting and He will meet you wherever you are willing to meet Him just say “Yes” to the invitation.
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1 Comment
Loved this!
Thank you for your authenticity & honesty!
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