CAN SET THE STAGE FOR EVERY MOMENT TO FOLLOW.
The first greeting of your day can often set the atmosphere for the remaining 18 or so hours till you rest your head upon your pillow at night.
Wouldn't it be lovely to wake each morning to a room full of roses and pure delight? to hear the sweet melody of your favorite song in the background? rather than a blaring alarm clock? to have someone deliver a bowl of sweet luscious strawberries and blueberries to begin your breakfast? to have a back massage following your shower? ah... sweet bliss.
Some people are not morning people. And what I described would not interest them in the least. Others, like me, wake with fog-brain. When I awake with fog-brain, it takes immense effort for me to part the mist of mush within my mind. Coffee does not do that for me...anymore. I drink decaf. Glazed donuts do not do it either--sugar rushes are a thing of my past. The thing that opens my eyes and starts my day like the first push of a domino in a line of multiple events, is a Word from God. And the quickest way to receive that Word is to wake with childlike wonder and say, "Good morning, LORD, what shall we do today?"
Peter Lord, in his book, Hearing God, writes that:
"The Lord does not force you into goodness or anything else, but He can and does work through every possible means to get your attention. He calls. He woos. He makes Himself known to you. He knocks on the door and comes in with your permission when you open it."
Therefore, if we rise each morning with an attitude that immediately lifts the blinds of our minds, throws open the windows of our soul and praises God from Whom new mercies are found at the rising of each sun, the doorway to God's complete presence is there to greet us with assurance and confidence.
I find myself so much better off if I take a moment and dwell on God's
goodness and mercy and thank Him for another day of life, another day to
praise Him-- and then watch my day unfold as He would have it unfold for me. Praise is a catalyst. It is the fuel in a heart which seeks God's presence. And yes, I mean presence. Not some faraway mystical out-of-body experience. When we talk with our family or friends we do not need to be catapulted to the moon to connect with them. However, when we take a moment to tell another how much they mean to us, it makes their day. It opens the portal of communication. If it didn't, we wouldn't be so affected by a smile, or conversely, a scowling frown and grumpy attitude. It's the same with our relationship with God.
When I choose to begin my day with thoughts of me, me, me--and all my sorrows and pain and struggles of yesterday, or my upcoming challenges, I leave God out. Then the day begins with a succession of trials and obstacles--emptied of optimism.
I don't know about you, my friends. But I need God. I need His strength to meet my weakness. I need His competence to meet my incompetence. I need His joy to meet my sorrows. He and He alone can fill the void of my day. He is my only hope in the hopelessness that life offers at times. And often God meets me with a specific reminder from His Word, "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me..." Psalms 138:8; "Fear not, for I am with thee..." "...lean not to thine own understanding...". Other times He gives me a friend who writes a word of encouragement--often meant for others in the facebook of social media--yet, there all the same for me, too. Sometimes it is a song...that comes in a sweet melodious whisper to my soul.
Life is a beautiful opportunity to show the world that God is love and the instrument of renewal. Nothing that occurs today is routine. We can have routines. But God fits new things, new people, new circumstances into our day-- every day. We merely need to open our eyes and hearts to them and to Him.
"One of the surest ways to recognize God's voice is the effect the words produce in you. The results of hearing God's voice center around increased faith and gratitude."~~Peter Lord, Hearing God
Are you grateful today? Are you thrilled to be a part of God's plan and purpose? Are you? Or are you listening to the morning news, reading the latest catastrophe, and questioning His watchcare? Are you blocking out His voice and failing to see His goodness? Is your Gethsemane as difficult as His? Are you waiting in the garden with Jesus? Are you watching and praying? Won't you walk with Him today?