One thing I've noticed about my journey with Christ is that nothing is ever random even though I spend most of my time feeling like it is. That moment always seems to eventually come when all the little 'messages' come together and 'I get it'. That happened today ...
I've had a lot on my mind and even more on my heart this summer. About a week ago I felt a 'tug' to give something up and replace it with prayer over these things. (Not sharing that to sound 'spiritual', this is just the beginning of the story). Not really sure why or how I decided this, but I found myself giving up coffee. Such a small thing to go without that I feel kinda stupid admitting it. But it's what I did and was quickly surprised by how hard it was. I was hooked on the stuff. Not the 'drug', but rather the idea of it. You see, I love, and I mean love, mornings. My cup of coffee adds an extra degree to the 'pleasure' factor of the early hours. The smell, the warmth, the freshness added to the newness of morning with my journal in hand: it's a good moment. But sitting in the morning without my coffee killed the 'mood' for me. Recognizing this forced me to ask the question, what am I really looking for in the morning? A pleasurable, still moment or an encounter with my Savior? I think both, but it was alarming to discover how much of a 'pleasure junkie' I'd become.
Later in the week a friend of mine shared how it was standing out to her that God is an invitational God. Those words lingered in my head and touched something inside me. Last night I struggled to fall asleep and with my friend's words in mind, began sensing His invitation. It felt like God was saying, "Join me in the morning. Don't come with anything. No requests, no burdens. Don't ask me for a cup of coffee. Just come and be with me. Gaze upon me. I have something to show you."
So I got up today excited at this 'invitation' and found myself spending the morning thinking about 'morning'. I found some verses that talked about the morning, the first one being "and there was evening and there was morning the first day." Suddenly I found it fascinating that morning was one of the first things God created. If God reveals Himself in His creation (and He does), then what does the morning communicate about God? One thing that jumped out at me about mornings is that they always come and are completely untouchable by the things of this world. It doesn't matter what suffering is taking place, what the set-backs in life are, what natural disasters have happened, what the events in the night were, or even the sin in my heart. There is absolutely nothing in the natural world (man or nature) that can stop morning from coming. So how meaningful then are the words in Lamentations that say, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning." In other words, God's love is the morning. It's steadfast. It can't be touched. Nothing can change it. Nothing. It exists completely outside the realm of things we like to think we 'control'. His love never fails.
As I continued to 'hunt' the morning, I realized that others already discovered what I found and expressed it in the Psalms: "O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice, in the morning I prepare a sacrifice (an empty cup of coffee) for You and watch." -Ps. 5:3 ... "Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days." -Ps. 90:1
I've had moments before where I've heard God say, "I love you", but through the creation of morning I hear, "I really love you and nothing can ever touch that. Be satisfied."
So tomorrow morning- pause, feel it, and be satisfied. He really loves you :)
