God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee… Psalm 63:1
I think we have all been reminded over the last several months how important it is to set aside time each day to spend with Jesus. And although there is no “wrong” time to spend with the Lord, I definitely think there is value to early time with Him. I want to tell you a few reasons why, and then I want to tell you how you can set yourself up for success in spending early time with the Lord.
>First: Early time readies you to meet whatever challenges you may face in your day. 2020 has proven to us that our lives can change unexpectedly in an instant! We never know what may happen in a day’s time, and getting up early fuels and charges us for the day. I like to relate it to coffee, even though I’m not a coffee drinker 😉 I hear so many people laughingly say that it’s impossible to function until they’ve had a cup (or two, for some of you!) of coffee – well, how much more so should this be true regarding our time with the Lord! Time spent with the Lord gives us the energy, the patience, the love and grace that we need to face every unexpected challenge!
>Second: Early time is usually uninterrupted time. And that makes a huge difference! As a young mom, I would oftentimes use the excuse that because of my late nights up with babies, I would be too tired in the morning to wake up to do my quiet time! So by the time I woke up, my babies were also waking up, and then during their nap time I was cleaning or cooking, and by the time my husband got home from work, I wanted to spend time with him in the evenings and I couldn’t find alone time then either! I began to realize that there will be an excuse and a reason why every time is difficult, and getting up early gives me the necessary time to meet with Jesus without interruptions that come during the day.
>Third: Early time is mentioned all throughout the Scriptures. There are far too many scriptures for me to reference that refer to early time, but the Psalmists often talked about rising early to meet with Jesus (Psalm 5:3; 57:8; 119:47), and Jesus Himself rose up early to meet with His Father (Mark 1:35). If it was important for Jesus to rise early, how much more so is it for us?!
So, the question is ——–> HOW? How do we ensure that we rise early and have quality, uninterrupted time with Jesus? A few things have helped me that I’d like to share!
>First: Set a consistent early time, and set yourself up to succeed. In the summer I set my alarm later than I do in the school year – during the summer I don’t wake up until 7:00 AM, but during the school year it is 6:00 AM. Both of these times ensure me an hour of uninterrupted time before my girls begin to get up. I set myself up to succeed by not staying up half the night – the later I stay up, the harder it is to wake up in the morning! Do yourself a favor and go to bed at a decent hour so that you can make time for what’s most important!
>Second: Don’t allow distractions. This is really important! I try not to check my phone before reading my Bible, and I specifically leave my phone out of reach so that I won’t be tempted by it! That sounds crazy, but if I check my phone before I read, oftentimes I will feel the need to answer messages or catch up on emails before reading my Bible, and all of a sudden I’ll realize that I have wasted 30 minutes! Be sure to minimize all distractions so that you can truly focus during your early time!
>Third: Have an accountability partner. It really helped me when I was first trying to set up this discipline of rising early to have someone to send my quiet time journals to, or to have someone ask me regularly if I’m reading and being disciplined! It is still a huge help! I need accountability just like the next person! There is no shame in admitting that you need help and asking someone to help you stay accountable to getting up and spending early time with the Lord.
Make it a priority to seek God early – I promise you that you won’t regret it! And at the end of the day, if you just can’t rise early – that’s okay too – remember that anytime is better than no time! Happy Wednesday, friends!