Fresh out of bed and still bleary-eyed I stumbled into the bathroom to start my morning routine. I would need to leave for work within the hour and I did not want to be late so I was already starting my mental checklist.
I glanced out the window at the early morning light that glowed and defined the tall pines and old oaks of the forest that began at the edge of our yard. As I did so I was struck by the need to just be still and raise my hands towards heaven. I began to praise God for His goodness and His love and I thanked Him for His grace and mercy and for including me in His redemption plan.
All of a sudden I was filled with an overwhelming sense of love and peace and I knew that just for a moment, I had touched the heart of God and that He had touched me in return. I began that day with a smile on my face and a song in my heart that stayed with me and colored every moment and every interaction with joy.
Practicing gratitude and looking for opportunities to be thankful can open our eyes to moments like this. A year or two ago I am quite sure that I would have missed the Spirit’s tug on my heart so soon after tumbling out of bed. I would have been too focused on “me” and my needs and my dull spiritual receptors would not have tuned in to the call to praise.
The great news is, things are changing. Rather, God is changing me and I am encouraged by His work!
I’m still not perfected, this is a process and a work in progress. I still miss Him, sometimes, when He shows up and I am distracted and the flesh in me is in control. That makes a moment like my spontaneous praise and worship all the more precious because it shows me that God is not through with me yet. It is proof that He is changing me from the old man that I was into the new, holy child of the King that I want to be.
But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength;
Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For You have been my stronghold
And a refuge in the day of my distress. (Psalm 59:16) NASB