SEEK HIM FIRST

My morning routine usually involves my waking up earlier than my family to ensure that I do some of my personal activities before the crunch of daily demands sets in. This is the time when I read my Bible, talk to God and let Him talk to me. Usually from such experiences I am motivated to write something that I can share with others about my walk with God.

On days when I’m not going to work, I sit longer at the computer writing until the usual cue for me to stop. The cue is my little two year old son, Junior. Every time, without fail, when he awakens, he grabs his ‘bhabhu’ (little blanket) and comes straight to the computer looking for me. Sometimes if I am no longer at the computer he will search for me through the house while at the same time calling out for me. If it takes too long for him to find me, I detect the desperation in his voice and quickly answer back to let him know where I am. The greeting is always the same. He expectantly raises his arms for me to carry him and he wraps his cute little arms around my neck and says ‘Good morning mommy. I love you mommy.’ It’s a ritual that I so enjoy. It brings me so much happiness and bonds me ever so close with my little boy.

Mornings are special times at which we set the tone of the day based on how we first interact with our loved ones. David, a Bible character I love to model my life on had something special going between him and God every morning. In Psalm 5 v 3 David writes: ‘My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord: in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up’. By coming to God in the morning we connect with the One who gives and sustains our life’s needs. Many are the challenges of the day and they can easily overcome us unless we tap on God’s promises for us.

There are days when I get so busy and bogged down with work that I get home late, sleep late and obviously wake up late. Looking at the things that need to be done, sometimes I skip the special time with God in the morning. Such days are almost always plagued with irritations, flaring tempers and things that just don’t go the way they should. It usually requires me to take time out, even if it’s for a couple of minutes, and have a short heart-to-heart with God and somehow the calm always returns.

What is important for us to remember as children of God is that God understands us as His children. Yes, it is good to have a regular scheduled time for daily devotions with God. But I don’t think that God stands with a register and a huge pen to mark that you were present and on time or absent for the appointment. If we revisit the analogy of my mornings with my little boy we’ll discover that on some days he wants us to linger and do things together before he is satisfied enough to go and do something else on his own. On other days he is just content getting a hug and kiss and getting on with business. Also it is not like clockwork that he wakens to seek for me. On some days it is earlier and on some days it is slightly later in the day.

Of course when his usual wake up time comes I anticipate his coming, but if he does not pitch up I do not rush to disturb his sleep and insist that he avails himself. Neither do I sulk and complain when he does eventually come. Sometimes because something exciting happened the previous night such as a relative or friend coming over, he will sleep later than usual and obviously wake up a bit late. The one consistent thing that I always count on is that he seeks me out first thing he awakens without fail. Even when I have gone to work, I am told that’s what he does and then has to be told that mommy has gone to work but she will come back. A further habit that he has developed since it registered with him that mommy goes to work is that as I prepare for work, he awakens just for a few moments to say ‘Hello mommy, goodbye mommy’ and then immediately goes back to sleep. It’s so sweet and tugs at my heart’s strings.

So we need not beat ourselves up and go on guilt trips just because we have missed our appointed time with God. We do well to remember that God can never be too busy for anyone of His children. Psalm 34 v 15: ‘The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry.’ What God always counts on is that you will seek him first no matter what the circumstances. One thing that I have learnt is that no matter how pressed I am for time, even if it cannot be the full devotional program that I do in the morning, I give myself time to connect as soon as I get out of bed.

At such times, that is when I cherish having memory verses that I can recite without having to open my Bible. Sometimes all I do is sing songs that talk about what I need from God or that address where I’m at in my spiritual barometer while I shower or do whatever I do in the morning. The important thing is to activate my connection with God anyway I can. The principle is to seek Him with all my heart, the how can vary and can be a matter of preference.

What I have found out also is that even after having a full morning devotional time with scripture reading, prayer, meditation and praise, I still need to connect and touch base with God throughout the day. My little boy at intervals throughout the day will start to get irritable and look for mommy to soothe his worries away. That’s how it ought to be between us and God. We do well to continually come to Him throughout the day to connect to His life giving power so we can continue to be effective.

Yes, it is good practice and it is important to have a scheduled time to meet with God early in the morning. For some of us working moms, it is best to do this before we do anything else because of the nature of our day. For some who are stay-at-home moms (blessed people!) it may make sense to get everyone off to school and work, put the baby to sleep and then have the special connection time when all is peaceful and quiet. Yet again, if anything happens to alter that schedule, you can still reschedule and enjoy communion with your Heavenly Father at a more practical time. I have found my lunch times at the office a suitable alternative. I believe that what’s of utmost importance to God in addition to the fact that you came, is that you meet with Him when all your faculties are sharp and you can have quality time together.

It is my sincere hope and prayer that each one of us will develop the all-important habit of deliberately setting a time to tell God what pleases and annoys us, praise Him and thank Him for His blessings and give Him time to heal, comfort, restore, teach and correct us bearing in mind that God is love.