This is Only a Test
I love my sleep. I enjoy sleeping...curled up in my silky 600-thread count Egyptian cotton sheets and that delicious, fuzzy blanket that our oldest daughter gave us for Christmas many years ago. The memory foam pillow and mattress, atop an adjustable (read 'old people,' according to my little brother) base. Oh, glorious sleep... My favorite time of day is bedtime.
So now you can understand why my lofty goal of getting up 'early' every day can be so difficult for me. I even made that catchy song, Happy, my alarm tone. That's a good way to take a song you used to enjoy and make yourself hate the first two seconds of it. But I really want to get up earlier. Because I know myself and my situation well enough to know that if I don't, I will miss my quiet time with God and my day will fall miserably short of what God intended for it to be.
You wanna know why I didn't blog yesterday? Yep. You guessed it. I didn't get up early. I got up when my precious grandson got up. And that means I hit the ground running. Literally. Of course I can pray throughout my day - everyone knows you don't have to be sitting in a quiet place, among the stillness to communicate with God. Thankfully we can chat with Him all day long. But what I miss is the opportunity to listen...just to be divinely inspired and soak up His word.
Last night, like most nights, as my eyelids were getting too heavy to hold up one more millisecond, I asked the Lord to infuse me with energy and a desire to get up when my alarm goes off without hitting the snooze button (a tool of Satan, I am starting to believe.)
So when my alarm went off just a short time ago, I felt the Spirit inside me, nudging, pulling, calling me to get up. And then I hear Him, "You asked for it. And if you want to have energy today, there's no better way to get it than to plug n to the very source of life-giving energy. Or you can pretend you can't hear me and lose any inspiration that I am trying to show you right now."
The last thing I want to do is to lose the divine inspiration of my Heavenly Father. That got me up. And here I sit at my dining room table. I can hear the whir of the ceiling fan and the sparrows on my front porch. And those awful Guinea Hens.
God honors my sacrifice. He meets with me here, in my dining room. Sometimes, I imagine Him sitting across from me, like an old friend, with a steaming cup of coffee in His hands. Other days, I imagine Him inviting me to rest my head on His lap and pour out my worries and cares as He strokes my hair and whispers, "I'll take care of this, my child."
Bringing my will (to sleep) into submission to God first thing in the morning, is the only way to start the day moving in the right direction. For me, it feels like a test. And each morning I get another chance (God willing) to see if I've learned...it should be the easiest test I've ever taken. Like a teacher handing me a piece of paper with only one blank to fill in: Name:________________________. The rest of the page is blank. Waiting to be written. But if I can't remember my name, Lynn Ringis, Child of God, then the blank page will get filled in with harsh scribbles and scratches, and red-lines. Where I messed up. In high school, I used to say that my paper was 'bleeding to death.'
I want my page to be filled with soft flowing lines that become beautiful pictures and rhythmic lines of poetry. Essays that speak truth and problems that are solved correctly. I want to get a gold star at the end of the day, when my page is filled and no blank space remains. I want to live my day to the fullest. But I have to get that blank at the top filled in correctly or I won't get credit for my work. And without spending this time with God, I will forget the answer. I will forget that I am HIS.
This is the inspiration that God shares with me, when I give Him the best of me. The freshest produce of my soul, before the gnats show up and swarm around me. Those pesky demands. Not that any of the demands on my day are bad things...until they get in the way of spending time with God. Then even the best intentions become a hindrance. Our God is a jealous god. He wants time with us. He wants to be our priority above ALL else.
I anticipate that today will be a great day. Rain or shine. Because I have allowed God to speak to me and inspire me first, before I had a chance to get too busy for Him. And He is faithful and will fill me with the energy I need to get through the day. Will today be perfect? Free from trials? Hardly. I have a husband and a teenager at home. But I have started my journey on the right foot this morning. And I am ready for whatever comes my way.
I pray that each of you can feel the infusion of the Holy Spirit today, and no matter where you are, just offer God the best of you, and ask for a do-over. We serve a god of second chances. Hit your rewind button and start your day over.
Isaiah 40:30, 31 says "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Does that sound like an infusion of super-natural energy to you? It sure does to me. I think I'll change my alarm tone to that annoying voice that says, "This is a test. This is only a test." Maybe that will help me remember my blank page, waiting to be filled.
Be blessed.
So now you can understand why my lofty goal of getting up 'early' every day can be so difficult for me. I even made that catchy song, Happy, my alarm tone. That's a good way to take a song you used to enjoy and make yourself hate the first two seconds of it. But I really want to get up earlier. Because I know myself and my situation well enough to know that if I don't, I will miss my quiet time with God and my day will fall miserably short of what God intended for it to be.
You wanna know why I didn't blog yesterday? Yep. You guessed it. I didn't get up early. I got up when my precious grandson got up. And that means I hit the ground running. Literally. Of course I can pray throughout my day - everyone knows you don't have to be sitting in a quiet place, among the stillness to communicate with God. Thankfully we can chat with Him all day long. But what I miss is the opportunity to listen...just to be divinely inspired and soak up His word.
Last night, like most nights, as my eyelids were getting too heavy to hold up one more millisecond, I asked the Lord to infuse me with energy and a desire to get up when my alarm goes off without hitting the snooze button (a tool of Satan, I am starting to believe.) So when my alarm went off just a short time ago, I felt the Spirit inside me, nudging, pulling, calling me to get up. And then I hear Him, "You asked for it. And if you want to have energy today, there's no better way to get it than to plug n to the very source of life-giving energy. Or you can pretend you can't hear me and lose any inspiration that I am trying to show you right now."
The last thing I want to do is to lose the divine inspiration of my Heavenly Father. That got me up. And here I sit at my dining room table. I can hear the whir of the ceiling fan and the sparrows on my front porch. And those awful Guinea Hens.
God honors my sacrifice. He meets with me here, in my dining room. Sometimes, I imagine Him sitting across from me, like an old friend, with a steaming cup of coffee in His hands. Other days, I imagine Him inviting me to rest my head on His lap and pour out my worries and cares as He strokes my hair and whispers, "I'll take care of this, my child."
Bringing my will (to sleep) into submission to God first thing in the morning, is the only way to start the day moving in the right direction. For me, it feels like a test. And each morning I get another chance (God willing) to see if I've learned...it should be the easiest test I've ever taken. Like a teacher handing me a piece of paper with only one blank to fill in: Name:________________________. The rest of the page is blank. Waiting to be written. But if I can't remember my name, Lynn Ringis, Child of God, then the blank page will get filled in with harsh scribbles and scratches, and red-lines. Where I messed up. In high school, I used to say that my paper was 'bleeding to death.'
I want my page to be filled with soft flowing lines that become beautiful pictures and rhythmic lines of poetry. Essays that speak truth and problems that are solved correctly. I want to get a gold star at the end of the day, when my page is filled and no blank space remains. I want to live my day to the fullest. But I have to get that blank at the top filled in correctly or I won't get credit for my work. And without spending this time with God, I will forget the answer. I will forget that I am HIS.
This is the inspiration that God shares with me, when I give Him the best of me. The freshest produce of my soul, before the gnats show up and swarm around me. Those pesky demands. Not that any of the demands on my day are bad things...until they get in the way of spending time with God. Then even the best intentions become a hindrance. Our God is a jealous god. He wants time with us. He wants to be our priority above ALL else.
I anticipate that today will be a great day. Rain or shine. Because I have allowed God to speak to me and inspire me first, before I had a chance to get too busy for Him. And He is faithful and will fill me with the energy I need to get through the day. Will today be perfect? Free from trials? Hardly. I have a husband and a teenager at home. But I have started my journey on the right foot this morning. And I am ready for whatever comes my way.
I pray that each of you can feel the infusion of the Holy Spirit today, and no matter where you are, just offer God the best of you, and ask for a do-over. We serve a god of second chances. Hit your rewind button and start your day over.
Isaiah 40:30, 31 says "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Does that sound like an infusion of super-natural energy to you? It sure does to me. I think I'll change my alarm tone to that annoying voice that says, "This is a test. This is only a test." Maybe that will help me remember my blank page, waiting to be filled.
Be blessed.
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