One of my favourite parts of the day is the morning. My husband gets up for work at 5 am, and I’m usually out of bed by 6 o’clock. (I’ve always been a morning person, so waking up early has never been a struggle.) There is a certain kind of beauty to be found in those early hours before the sun is up when all is quiet save for the burble of the kettle and the tippy tapping of the dog as she follows me through the house. Mornings are when I feel most productive, alert, and ready to tackle hard things. They’re when I get my writing done, with the fading stars and moon as my backdrop. Mornings are also the time I feel most drawn to reconnecting, whether with others, myself, or the Lord. I believe mornings are sacred times that shouldn’t be disrupted by hustle, bustle, and noise until at least 8 am.
When I have the chance to settle into my morning routine, I find that I enter my day with peace and purpose blanketing my heart. If I miss those precious hours to reconnect and centre myself with the Lord before the day starts, I feel frazzled and find that anxiety and stress creep into my heart more easily. How we start our day matters, and the first thing we do when we wake up tells us a lot about our priorities.
What’s the first thing you do when your alarm goes off in the morning? Do you hit snooze and roll over for five more minutes of sleep? Do you do that four more times? Do you lay in bed scrolling on your phone until you have five minutes before you have to leave? Do you lay in bed staring at the ceiling, wishing it was the weekend? How we start our day significantly impacts how we live it; it sets the tone for the next twenty-four hours. I’ve been guilty of doing most of the things I listed above. I know from firsthand experience that if I start my morning with anything other than reading my Bible and spending time with the Lord, I will have a rough day.
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”
Mark 1:35
When reading the Gospels, I’m reminded that Jesus slipped away in the early morning hours to be with God. In and amongst the miracles, sermons, and dinner invitations, Jesus was never too busy to reconnect with his Father. I’m sure it would’ve been easy for him to justify not spending time with God because he was too busy. He was constantly being swarmed by people wanting things from him, and since Jesus was both fully human and fully God, he probably didn’t need to inquire of God the same way that we do. Yet, he went to pray while it was still dark out to show us how crucial daily communion with the Lord is.
Do we crave time with our Lord like we crave time on our phones? Do we open our Bibles and set aside time to pray without thinking twice, like we do when we binge the latest Netflix show? How we start our day reflects the posture of our hearts. May we come humbly and openly to the foot of the cross, laying down our burdens and taking up our yoke with Christ. May we seek out the Lord and His peace, mercy, and grace that are new every morning. And may we carve out time to sit in the presence of the One that our soul craves.
Simply Katherina 