Beside Still Waters

In our house, my morning starts at 5:30. I have exactly 30 minutes to take my shower, get some hot tea, and take a deep breath before my children wake up. I used to wake them by singing at the base of the stairs every morning. This year they decided they wanted alarm clocks, so I usually sit on the second stair in the still dim house and wait to hear the familiar beeping that means they’ll be coming down the stairs soon to greet me. This is still one of my favorite parts of the day. It’s my first glimpse of my children, after a night of absence. I hold them close, their little bodies still warm from the comfort of their beds. I rock them slightly, and I kiss the backs of their necks before passing them along to the morning.

We could sleep an extra 45 minutes in the mornings, but we decided years ago to get up early enough to have time to spend with each other. It's our time to relax, cuddle, and talk about what the new day will bring. I ask them every year if they'd rather sleep in, but they say no. Our time together is as important to them as it is to me, but it has to be a conscious choice, a determined effort, or it will never happen. Life is too busy.

A Changing World

Sometimes we’re drawn to the world. Sometimes it looks beautiful to us and we see the hand of God in every aspect of our day. Other times the hand of sin and death is much more apparent, and we have to look a little harder to see through the haze that seems to cover our daily routine. There is a stigma among Christians that if you’re tired you must be doing something wrong. Perhaps you’re not walking on the right path. Perhaps you’re too focused on self. After all, being a Christian is all about service, right? True, but as busy as His daily ministry kept him, even Jesus knew the value of retreat and meditation. He knew the value of making a conscious and determined effort to spend time with his Father.

Finding a Retreat

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" (Mark 1:35 NIV).

Sound familiar? It’s hard to find a place where you can spend time alone with God and not have someone come looking for you. When Christ went out to the desert alone, the Bible says “The Spirit sent him” (Mark 1:12 NIV). Why do you suppose that was? Could it be that spending time alone with God is more of a necessity than a choice? Jesus retreated from his enemies, but he also retreated from his friends. He spent time alone. He rested. He meditated. He prayed. He retreated when he was battle-weary from his time with the Pharisees. He retreated to find direction for his ministry. He retreated when he was physically tired and when he needed a spiritual boost.

Not to spend time alone with God is to miss out on the blessings he has prepared for us. It is to lose the direction and wisdom that might guide us more smoothly through our day. If we are too busy to find the time to separate and commune with God beside the still waters of prayer and meditation, we are entirely too busy.

The Morning with God

In late July my family was at our church's Family Camp. Since I took a vacation earlier in the summer, I commuted back to town a couple of times during the week to do some work. Thankfully it is only a little over an hour away! I'd rather not have had to get up quite so early to make it back to town on time, but I have to say that the blessings I received on my morning commute were an unexpected delight.

There is something about the morning with God, especially when driving through the back country of Tennessee. When the light filters quietly through the dense foliage surrounding the gently twisting road, you feel God is there. When you see baby deer and bunnies moving silently through the still morning forest, your mind can't help but move to the creator of life. When the morning dew sits on the quiet fields, and the gentle fog is still lifting off the meadows and valleys, you can't help but feel the presence of God slowly moving through your heart and mind. No wonder the Bible speaks so frequently about the morning with God.

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." Psalm 143:8 (NIV)

I wonder how different each day would be, if we prayed this prayer every morning, asking God to show us the path we should travel down for the day, dedicating our lives to Him anew with each morning sunrise, allowing the stillness of a brand new day to flood our soul with peace and faith in the God who placed the sun in the sky.