What do you do when you first wake up? Check your emails, Instagram, Facebook, your texts?
The mornings are often some of the only times that we have time to ourselves. Before your family is awake before you leave for work, most days it is the only time that can yours. What if you gave that time away? This may sound crazy but hear me out.
The way we start our days is so incredibly important. If the first thing that happens in your day is a struggle, it doesn’t set the best tone for the rest of the day. Let’s imagine for a minute, what does your best possible morning look like? I would bet that it’s unhurried, peaceful, and relaxing. There wouldn’t be yelling, rushing to work, or skipping breakfast.
When you think of someone who embodies this unhurried, peaceful, and relaxing pace, who do you think of? In this case, the Sunday school answer is the correct one: Jesus! Jesus is consistently full of the fruit of the Spirit; he was always a peaceful presence to those he was around.
But the question follows: how did he get that way and why? Jesus spent time with God. Jesus often left the people he was with to get alone and pray. He would go to a garden or on a mountain. It was consistent. Jesus, the son of God, knew he needed to be consistent in spending time with his Father.
Mark 1:35 says, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” Jesus knew that once the day started, there would be distractions, things to do, and people to talk to.
Jesus knew that he needed to spend time one-on-one with God. He needed to be with God, separate from everyone else. The same principle applies to us. If we consistently create space for God to show up, He will. And more than that, when God shows up, and we continue to invest in that time, we will begin to grow fruit. We will begin to look like Jesus. We will begin to experience that slow, peaceful, relaxing presence.
Taking that step towards a morning invested in prayer and Scripture is often easier said than done, I get it.
Luckily, I have the answer for you! It’s your phone. Or maybe the opposite. To start, try for one week, plugging in your phone to charge outside of your bedroom. When you wake up in the morning, make a deal with yourself. Before you get to check your phone, you try to spend around 10 minutes reading your Bible and praying.
The Creator of the universe wants to spend time with you. He wants to speak to you, invest in your life, and repair the things that seem irreparable. The only catch is that you must create the space for Him to be able to do these things. This week, just try starting your day with God.
What’s the worst that could happen?
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