Feels Like A Good Day

I got up a little late today and maybe the half hour of extra sleep was beneficial because I feel really good today.

Some mornings start with a “have to” sort of feeling, but today just has a good feel to it and I hope to take advantage. Even the boys are cooperating. They ate breakfast and got dressed at record speed.

I missed my “quiet time” this morning. I really don’t like calling it that, but it’s the label that most people understand for what it is. It’s more than reading, it’s not just leafing through a devotional to draw inspiration from someone else’ ability to get close to God. It’s a time of intimacy with God, but when you label it something so dramatic it takes away the integrity of the label when you have one of those days where you feel like you’re going through the motions. I have to admit that it does happen now and then. I think I would scoff at someone if I heard them say…”I’m going to go be intimate with God now.” I’m sorry, but it’s not a button you can push every morning. At least not for me. In fact, it wasn’t even a button I woke up in time to find this morning. However, the day is not over and as I love to reflect on (that’s not a bad word) King David said this: “I will not enter my house or go to my bed- I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.” Psalm 132:3-5 (NIV) That’s what it has always meant to me. Finding a place for Him. David was talking about building a temple, but I find application in dedicating time to God. Filling the temple He has given me with His Spirit and allowing it to echo with His voice.

Kris has been teaching a series on Bible Study for the past 12 weeks in Sunday school. It’s been very interesting and motivating but in my heart I have been longing for a lesson on the more intimate time with God. This past Sunday he obligingly taught on why to have a “quiet time.” And next week he is planning to cover how to do it. I sat there and began thinking about my own journey into dedicating time to God and when I thought back to all I have been through since I began a regular “quiet time” I was amazed at everything that hinged on my experiences with God. I can boldly say that I would not be where I am, had I ignored that discipline. The biggest decisions I have made in my life have been prompted by a still small voice, in the quiet hours of the morning. What if I hadn’t been there to hear it? Yes, the big decisions draw most of us to that quiet place, but more intriguing is the question, what if I were unable to hear or recognize His voice. It is the daily (or almost daily) communion with him that allows us to know Him and hear Him and recognize the voice that is deeper than our own thoughts, sweeter than our own prose…His voice is always tinged with love. I dare say it is dripping with it. Even in the most sorrowful hours of conviction over my selfish ways, His voice never fails to make me believe I am unwaveringly and unconditionally loved.

So…I missed out this morning…but the day’s not over.