A Sluggish Start

It was difficult to get out of bed this morning. Two of our bedroom walls and ceilings are being renovated so we slept in the guest room last night. We got to bed late. Oh, I’m not sure why. Could have been the ball game, or the book I was reading, or quite possibly because we were trying to find our pajamas in the drawers that had been moved from their usual spot and piled in the back room. But the alarm let me know it was time to get up.

I felt rather sluggish and would have preferred to just stay in that cozy bed situated so close to the warm radiator. It seemed to be whispering to me, “Just stay for a few minutes more!” Curling up in the warm blankets felt like the best choice.

But habit finally won and I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up. On the way to my study loft, I checked my phone and noticed a couple of important emails, and my mind got caught up in what the notes contained.

Finally, sitting down, I opened my Bible and I found that the scripture for this morning was Psalm 63:1. “You, God, are my God. Earnestly I seek you. I thirst for you. My whole being longs for you in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”

I couldn’t help but realize how unthirsty I felt at the moment. What creates the kind of thirst the psalmist was writing about? What was I to do now? Still drowsy from sleep, and now thinking about how cold I was, with part of my brain still in those emails, I tried to focus. I wondered what would bring me to the place where words like ‘earnestly seeking’, ‘thirsting’, and ‘longing’ were true to how I felt?

For the past couple of years, I have been reading through the book, ADORE, by Sara Hagerty, with a small group of women at my church. In this dynamic book, Sara defines, by her own vulnerability, what it means to praise God even when you don’t feel like it. She writes, “There will be many days in your life that you won’t feel the presence of God or the desire to read His word. You won’t want to talk to Him. If you wait until you feel like talking, you may miss the beauty of what He has for you in that moment. Sometimes you need to carve a way to Him with your words.”

Now I have always known that God is worthy and deserves our praise but I’ve mostly done it in response to what feels good or is beautiful or is an answer to prayer. “I am happy! Praise God! I adore You for that lovely sunrise! We got the phone call we were hoping for! Praise God!” That has been my practice for so many years.

But I am learning.

With that mindset, I don’t seem to find myself praising Him when I don’t feel like it. I’m not happy about something so why in the world would I praise God? (I know better, really.)

In the book, You Are What You Love, James K.A. Smith writes: “Worship is the arena in which God recalibrates our hearts, reforms our desires, and (retrains) our loves. Worship isn’t just something we do; it is where God does something to us. Worship… is the gymnasium in which God retrains our hearts.”

Do you see the difference? It is still true, all that I believed. We worship because God is worthy of our praise. We praise because He is holy. We adore Him because He is the great I Am. Yes and yes again.

But these two authors are telling me there is another reason. It is because, in worship, God meets us. He has more for us as we adore Him. In the act of praise, we open our hearts to the most powerful force in the universe and say, “You are amazing!” And He, in turn, reminds us how much He loves us, how much He wants to comfort and care for us, how much he has done for us. In a word, He changes us - from sluggish and comfort-seeking, to ones who worship and who know we are loved.

This morning, I felt like I was dry and parched, just like the psalmist. I bowed my head and asked for an earnest heart and a deep thirst that only He could quench. I adored Him for being the God who sees me sitting in my little loft with my Bible open and the space heater turned on high. I invited Him to sit with me there and show me His heart. Soon, I found that I was longing for more.

And He gave it to me. I read from Matthew 10 where I was excited to read that Jesus gave His disciples authority to go out and do the things He was doing - heal the sick, tell people that the kingdom of heaven was near, raise the dead, cleanse the leper, drive out demons. I praised Him because He has given me work to do also! Listening to the weary, encouraging the seekers, praying for the sick and lonely were ways that Jesus showed that the kingdom of God was near. I excitedly adored Him for His work in me and the work He has equipped me to do.

He turned my lethargic preference for staying in bed into a meeting with Him as He showed me my part in His kingdom work.

That early morning hour gave me space in which to connect with God through the scripture, prayer, and worship. I believe He met me there.

Isn’t that what this whole thing is about? Meeting God in his Word and finding our hearts changed?

My adoration had a sluggish start but getting out of bed taught me much more than a few extra minutes of sleep ever could.!