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1:06 am

By January 3, 2013August 30th, 2022Devotional

The year has started out a little more hectic than I thought it would and I am already finding myself in the middle of a number of projects. Needless to say, when the evening rolls around, I’m exhausted. Aside from the normal stuff, client expectations change at the beginning of each year and I have been adjusting my schedule to accommodate the revised needs of my clients. In addition to all the normal corporate responsibilities I have, I write this post five nights a week and that takes some research in addition to the actual writing part of the task. Sometimes, it flows like water and other times I just have to chill out until some topic pops into my head for the evening.

Last evening I was probably a little more tired than normal. Janet and I are trying to get away for several days and I am catching up on chores to get ahead of the curve. Anyway, I went to bed after posting my article and promptly fell asleep. In fact, I slept like a baby, until I woke up. I mean, it wasn’t like I was a little groggy or didn’t feel well. I was wide awake, feeling great and ready for the new day. Now I don’t know about you, but when I get up in the middle of the night, I try to guess what time it is and I guessed that it was perhaps 5:00 am or so.

In fact, I remember thinking that back in my seminary days, I would just about be hopping into the shower. Then I looked at the clock and to my amazement, it was 1:06 am. It just couldn’t be… I wasn’t tired or anything. But I got up for a few minutes and then settled back down into bed, thinking I would fall back asleep. But it wasn’t to be…

I just laid there – wide awake – and gradually it occurred to me that I should be spending this time communing with God. I am a little embarrassed to say that the idea didn’t occur to me right away – it took some time. But once I got that gentle nudge, I started my conversation with God. You see, we serve a very patient God. And although I have tried to make sure that I am leading a God centered life, it is entirely possible that I have been too busy to spend adequate time with the Father during my crazy days.

Now I know that’s not right, and I am not defending my actions, but sometimes I get sidetracked and that’s when God will patiently wait for my undivided attention – usually in the middle of the night. But it’s highly unusual for me to be absolutely, 100%, wide awake in the middle of the night. So God must have had something pretty important for me to consider.

In fact, I couldn’t get my mind off a particular project I am working on. While the team has already experienced miracles, it became evident to me that I needed to seek God’s continuing guidance. I thought about everything I could think of. I prayed for God’s protection and guidance. I prayed for success… I prayed for wisdom… and I prayed about how much I love what I do… And as the leader of this particular initiative, I prayed for our team and that we would stay focused on the goal of honoring God in the process.

The funny thing is that I know the other leaders of our group pray the same kind of prayers. That’s one of the things that makes us so strong as a team. We are in lockstep in terms of our faith in God and the expectation of miracles in our lives. If any one of us senses something out of sync, we don’t move forward.

By the time I got done praying and seeking God’s counsel, it must have been close to 2:30 am or later. Then, as suddenly as I awoke, I must have fallen asleep. Next thing I knew, it was 7:40. I am getting a little tired now, but that’s normal. The fact that I’m not comatose after being up so much of the night is a miracle in and of itself.

The verse for tonight is from Lam. 2:19, “Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.” Pretty straight forward… God wants us to pour our hearts out to Him.

My encouragement this evening is that God wants an authentic relationship with you. And if by chance you forget to spend enough time with Him during the day, please don’t be surprised if you get a gentle little nudge like I did last night. My prayer is that you won’t waste the chance to have that one on one time with God. And I hope that you realize how special that time is. You and God – the creator of the universe. So, I’m off to bed again – who knows, God may have something else in store for me tonight. In the meantime, have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…

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