I am becoming more of a creature with a routine. It wasn’t always this way. When I was younger, I would sleep until who knows when and get up with no agenda for the day except to get out of the house and with friends as quickly as possible. Usually my long-term planning was only as long as my nose. I never really liked the mornings when I was younger. In fact, I used to joke about my life motto being,
Mornings should come around about noon.
I think I read that in a Garfield cartoon. Anyway, now I have come to embrace the early morning. Maybe this comes with age. Maybe it is because I now have three kids and this is the time of day when it is quiet. Whatever the reason, I am now one of those dreaded morning people. In fact, I have been known to join my running group at 5 am for a 5 mile run. Don’t judge me…join me! The early morning has become a refuge for me to talk with God. I find that I am more focused, have clarity of thought, plan better, retain more information and am generally more productive the earlier it is. I have also discovered that I love sunrises! They are new each day and never quite the same each day. They bring hope for the day and blessing of getting to share that day with those I love and friends I care for.
This year, I am reading through the Bible. I have also started doing my devotions a little differently using the S.O.A.P method of study. It is so simple. Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer. Yes, I have been writing down my prayers. My dachshund, Floppy, usually gets to hear what I am reading and studying that morning as she stares at me as I am finishing up. I think I have almost convinced her to become a Christ follower. She usually becomes my audience.
Mark 1:35 says,
Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.”
What I learned was that Jesus practiced solitude. While His purpose on this earth was to seek and save the lost, there were times when He needed to be alone with His thoughts, His prayers and His Father in Heaven. What i find interesting is the time of day Jesus selected. he went before daybreak. Before the sun rises is when our world is still at rest. The hustle and bustle of life has yet to really start for the day and things are generally…quiet.
This passage really challenged me. I realized that I needed to look for opportunities to practice solitude. We all need those moments in life to get alone with our thoughts, prayers and our Heavenly Father. We need to find that place of solitude, that quiet place that is still at rest before the world around us gets going in full motion. We live in a crowded world. There seems to always be an audience.
We need to not be like these birds on the wire, we need to seek out the audience of One.
My prayer for today is that we would all find our place of solitude and that we would look forward to spending that time with our thoughts, prayers and heavenly Father just like the anticipation of a new sunrise.
Do you currently have a place of solitude?
What can you do to create more margin in your life for being alone with an audience?
oneguyseyes 