On Waking Up Earlier Than You Wanted

This morning, I woke up randomly at 5:11. I was not happy. I do not usually wake up at 5:11.

Now I'm sure there are some of you reading this who are saying, "Hush your mouth, Matt. You're a lazy bum. I get up that early every day! You deserve to have to wake up that early every once in awhile!" I hear your voices, and I agree. I should probably get up a little earlier than I am now, but that is not what I wish to discuss.

Anyway, as I sat there this morning at 5:11, I was wide awake. This was not one of your wake up, look at the clock drowsily, roll back over and go to sleep moments. I was fully awake. Consequently, I could not go back to sleep. It was such a frustrating feeling.

The clock gradually crept forward minute by minute as I lay there on my bed. Then a thought hit me. I figured since I was already up, I may as well go ahead and get out of bed, read my Bible for awhile, and spend a good amount of time in prayer. After all, my morning routine is usually pretty rushed and I often do not spend a lot of time doing these things before I start my day.

So, here was my dilemma. I could sit there for another 2 hours, doing nothing but daydreaming and trying to go back to sleep, or I could get up. Hmmmm..... I settled on laying there doing nothing. Eventually, at about 6:00 or so, I finally drifted off into a fitful sleep which lasted until my alarm went off at 7:20.

As a result, I truly believe I missed out on something this morning.

I know that I should've gone ahead and gotten up, but the excuses kept pouring into my head. "You need the rest...You'll be tired all day...You can do those things later...You're practically asleep already..." All these things kept running through my mind until I eventually forgot that God wanted me to spend time with him.

Sometimes, God wakes us up in the middle of the night to share his thoughts with us. I think of the story of Samuel, whom God woke up 3 times to speak to. What would've happened if Samuel had just gone back to sleep instead of listening to the voice of the Lord? Perhaps he never would've become one of the greatest prophets Israel ever knew.

When God speaks, we must listen. When he gives directions, we must follow. I'm reminded of James' words to his readers when he said "it is a sin to know what you should do and then not do it."

I think I fit that bill pretty well this morning.