Today’s message is “Start your day with God” and includes why and how we need to rest and reenergize.
Those with children at home have a hard time calling this down time or a rest. Having been a single parent with three children at home, I know that on my days off, I never had a lot of down time. I had to learn how to make time for me to rest and re-energize.
So, join me as we look at “Start your day with God!” as the first step towards the “best use of your down time.”
I have been hearing the stories of how each day starts with “turn the news on” to see the status of the pandemic. It usually is the last thing we look at before we go to sleep at night too. Our world has the news 24-7 and it consumes many hours a day. Here is an old idea – do not watch the news first and last in the day, look at something that is positive, calming, encouraging and restful.
How about getting into God’s Word before the news. Then try ending the evening with reading from the Bible -God’s Word! There are tremendous devotional guides you can utilize if you do not know where to start. I see that many more daily video’s, podcasts, and YouTube studies are now available.
When I said this idea is an old idea, I meant it. Many thousands of years ago, people were learning this concept and they wrote it down for us to have now.
1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
Open your eyes in the morning and look to the strength of God to get you up.
God is right there with you, so seek His face – in other words, talk to Him!
Then listen, just like you do the news, listen to what God has to say about the day and the state of affairs.
Psalm 119:147 NIV
I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.
When we wake up and ask God to help us through the day, He will lead us to His Word where He can give us hope and encouragement for the day. These Old Testament writers gave us these words from God so that we could read them over and over until they become a part of our basic thinking.
Even Jesus taught us this lesson when He walked among us. Many times, Jesus took time to pray, to be alone with God.
Mark 1:35 NIV
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
Reading the Bible and talking with God through prayer can be an incredible start to the day. You will find that it usually gives you things to do that day, a purpose to get out of bed.
Only, do not stop praying just because you got up and started your day. Walking with God through your day is a wonderful way to spend the day. God is always there with you, so why wouldn’t you talk to Him?
Col 4: 2 NIV
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Part of praying is waiting and listening for answers and being thankful when God responds. A favorite passage in the Bible encourages us to do this.
Philippians 4:6,7 and 8 NIV
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
The last thought for how to start your day, and I would add, to end your day is found in verse 8.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Now that you are out of bed, how do you rest and re-energize?
This is a good time to reflect on how we are using our time each day.
I would hope that throughout your day, you do self-care. This is looking after your own health so you can be strong to help others when needed.
This involves things like sleep which you just woke up from and hopefully you had a refreshing rest.
Rest comes in many forms and we start with the Psalmist’s take on rest. This is the most read Psalm in the Bible.
Psalm 23:1-4 NIV
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
God wants to spend the day with you, helping you to rest, refresh and seize the day. Now comes the other parts of self-care – singing and laughing.
Psalm 63:3-5 NIV
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
Ecclesiastes 3:4 NIV
A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Hardship leads to relief when it is over. We need to look towards that relief and not back at the hardship.
Psalm 126:5 NIV
Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.
There is hope for this world! This pandemic will not consume us like this forever. When we adjust to life with Covid 19, we will begin to live outwardly again. The Psalmist is stating that fact, because those early people had seen many disasters turned into renewed life. The natural reaction, given by God is to sing with joy when you come through the trouble.
Today, we looked at God’s Word and considered what it says about “Starting the day with God,” for the bigger issue of “how to best use the down time.”
Next week we will be looking at “what you can do during the day inside the isolation.”
To finish today’s theme, Barb is leading us in another song about God’s Word!
-Barbs Singing “Word Of God”
Closing Benediction: 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 NIV
16 Be joyful always;
17 pray continually;
18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Let’s pray!
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