Another wake-up call happened Saturday morning. I’m telling you; we do not need alarm clocks to wake up when God is on a mission with us. A call to worship came at 6:32 a.m. Saturday morning when a friend texted me.
I set my alarm clock for 7:00 a.m. Saturday. Thinking it was the weekend, I’d allow myself a little more time to sleep before getting up and praising God. However, Friday evening, before I fell asleep, I told God if He wanted me up earlier, He’d have to wake me before my alarm went off.
He did!
Sunrise Light
Now, I’ve shared with everyone that I’m not a morning person. It’s hard for me to rise early in the morning. And I’ve shared with a particular friend how I struggle getting up early and that sunrise light is supposed to be especially helpful.
I’ve been intentionally learning about the value of sunrise light and our circadian rhythm. Getting a certain amount of light right away helps wake us, makes us alert, and sets our internal sleep clock. I’ve begun implementing getting my lux light in the morning hours to help me sleep better and to help me get up earlier. Because this is the time of day that Jesus keeps asking me to give to Him: EARLY morning hours.
The snooze button is both a blessing and a curse. But God doesn’t want me hitting the snooze anymore. And He’s making sure I wake up to get up and praise Him.
A Call to Worship
Last week, many of my children and all my grandchildren came down with a stomach bug. More than once I was notified early that someone was sick and needed prayer. Friday morning, my 9-month pregnant daughter contacted me that she was severely ill with the stomach bug. So, Saturday morning, when a text tone woke me from my slumber, I immediately grabbed my glasses and phone from my nightstand. I expected another message about illness.
Instead, it was a picture of the beautiful sunrise along with a message from my friend:
“Praising our Lord God Almighty with you this morning!”
I fell back on my pillow and smiled. And then said, “Good morning, Lord! Thank you for waking me!” And I immediately began to praise Him while still lying in bed. A few minutes later, I got up, grabbed my coffee and water, and headed to my quiet place to continue praising Jesus.
No Dumping, Just Praising
Saturday morning, I spent a long time praising Jesus. The songs, lyrics, and instrumental music of new songs helped me express my love and adoration of and to Jesus.
Thanking God for answering my questions about what my focus should be during this Lenten season (Get Up and Praise the LORD), I thought, I am. I will. This is my commitment this Lenten season.
Amazingly after about an hour of worshipping Jesus, I felt happy and content, peaceful, yet energetic, alive, and alert.
And I hadn’t written a word yet in my journal. But when I did, I wrote, “Funny, I don’t feel like dumping on You this morning. I just feel like continuing to praise You.”
So, I did.
If you haven’t praised Jesus yet today, now is a good time. Whatever you are doing, you can praise Jesus in this very moment.
May peace, contentment, and joy fill your heart and mind today and tonight. May you get a call to worship in the morning: Get up and praise the LORD!
Today’s Scripture
“The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.” Isaiah 50:4 (NIV)
We’ve had some gorgeous sunrises lately, Michelle -glad you’ve been enjoying the artwork of our Lord! 💕
Hi Cris!
We sure have had some beautiful sunrises. My friend texted me again this morning and shared a couple of pictures that she captured of this morning’s sunrise. So I ran outside and was able to snap my own picture of God’s creativity. I’ll have to share it when I figure out how to upload into the comments section. LOL! A technology, always a challenge! The sunrise was brilliant and bright this morning, just like Jesus!
May you be blessed today!
Michelle