Sunrise…Sunset
Wasn’t that a song? Oh. I remember. It was a song from Fiddler on the Roof. How many of you are too young to remember that movie?
Sunrise: the start of a new day. Light floods the earth almost instantly. One minute, it’s diffuse and grey, the next it’s bright and the air’s charged with energy.
Sunset: the end of the day. Light seems to slowly soften. The sky fills with purple and orange and silver. You can almost hear the world sigh as it winds down.
I’m a sunrise kinda girl. When my feet hit the floor in the morning, my mind's already swirling with things I need to do. After the necessary pit-stop, I set to unloading the dishwasher, tidying up the house, starting laundry…
Jann, my sister and our famous Giggles author (check out the Giggles link above if you don’t know what I’m talking about), is just the opposite. She’s a night person. Sunrise comes and she groans. She’d rather bury under the covers. But, at sunset, she perks up and she’s ready to hit the day. About the time I’m collapsing, she’s charging up.
What about God? Well, He’s a sunrise to sunset, and all the hours in between, kinda God. Always awake, always alert. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, He’s on the go. Keeping the universe in order, maintaining the earth’s orbit, giving rain over here and sunshine over there, performing a miracle here and there, and answering a few billion prayers. No naps, no vacations.
But, back to me and Jann. We both want to spend time with God. We both like to start our days with Him. But there’s a little problem: I can’t sit still; she can’t stay awake.
My mind’s a-flittering—I’ll put my Bible down, it will only take a minute to water the plants, or feed the dog, or mail that bill. Then I'll come back.
Jann’s stifling a yawn and fluffing her pillow. She’ll just close her eyes for a minute and “pray.”
The truth is, whether we have time with our Father at sunrise, at sunset, or any time in between, our problem is discipline. We have God’s full attention, we struggle to give Him ours.
Does God care if we meet with Him at sunrise or at sunset? No, He’s always there. For us, it’s always hard, always a sacrifice.
Am I willing to set aside the busyness for a few minutes and focus on Him?
Is Jann willing to set aside her desire for a little more sleep and be alert to His voice?
What about you? Sunrise…Sunset. Whenever time it is, if we sacrifice our wants and chose to spend time with Him, He’ll flood our lives with His light—a light that doesn’t rise or set, it’s 24/7.
What are your struggles as you try to spend time with God?
Encourage us by letting us know how you are able to focus on Him.
Nice. I'm still trying to get used to my older sons tendency to come alert late afternoon or early evening. Drives me crazy, but who's to say what's right, what's wrong. Not me. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post & reminder!
I'd always heard that that time with God had to be first thing in the morning. Once I realized that wasn't true, I did lots better!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting!