Spending Time With The Light!

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. (Isaiah 60:1 KJV)

Since retirement, I have not found a lot of reasons to encourage me to get up and out of bed early in the morning. I do, though. I don't want to fall into the habit of sleeping my days away.

Depression can lead to a lot of excess sleeping and sleeping our days away can lead to depression as when we spend all of our time sleeping we do not get to live life. We do not get to enjoy life. And, life is for living! Sleep is for resting and rejuvenating our bodies and minds so that we can get up and live the next day.

Over time, I have developed and committed myself to some coping skills that help me to get up without regrets and to live a bit. I rise early before my husband is up so I can spend some quiet time with the Lord; for devotions and to write this daily blog. I began writing this daily blog, at least in part, to discipline myself to get up and spend time in the word and with the Word before the world comes crashing in. I usually wake up before the alarm goes off. But, there have been more than a few times when the alarm has gone off, that I've thought that maybe I should skip my morning routine and go back to sleep. 

Lately, though I have been waking up with a smile. I realized that the blasting of the alarm clock is like a mother or grandmother hollering at a teenager to get out of bed. So, I found an alarm on my phone that sounds like a wind-chime. Wind-chimes, of course, remind me of the wind. The wind reminds me of the Holy Spirit. When I wake up now to the sound of wind-chimes, I wake up smiling ready to face the day and live life, knowing that the light, who is Jesus the Christ, is with me in that moment. 

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. (Isa 60:1)

What better way is there to start the day than to spend some intentional time with the light, who is our Lord, Jesus the Christ!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Which Direction?

 

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 NRSV)

The word of the Lord through Jeremiah to the exiles in Babylon was for them to seek the welfare of the city that they have been exiled to. They were to build homes; to have families; to live life in Babylon. He gave them direction according to His plans for them.

Lately, I've been waking up each morning wondering what direction the Lord would have me go. I am at an age where I could retire. But, is that what I am supposed to do? There are a lot of possibilities for the future. At this point, I have no clue in which direction the Lord would have me go. I would like to retire and be able to be a little more spontaneous in every day life. Unfortunately, I am a bit of a workaholic and I am not sure what I would do if I was not working. I get bored and restless even now during the hours that I am not working. 

I have heard from many in the past who simply wanted a straight forward answer from God regarding the direction that they should go. I can empathize with that. I know that the Lord has a good plan for me. (Rom 8:28) But, I have a feeling that I have been so anxious about what it is that He would have me do, that I haven't taken the time to be still and listen to Him. 

May God help us all to trust that He will lead us in the direction He would have us go.

God's Peace - Pr. J