Making time for devotions is probably one of the biggest struggles a Christian faces. What is the best time in the day to study God’s Word and pray? I suppose this varies for every Christian. With seven kids, one of which being two and one being 10 months old the mornings are filled with little feet getting me out of bed wanting breakfast as soon as their feet hit the floor. Sometimes this “great awakening” comes between 6:45 and 7:00 am so mornings have always been a challenge for me. Mid-afternoon is no good consistently for me either. Something always is needing attention around this time. If it gets real quiet in the house (This seldom happens) after lunch you may find me napping. Finally, I generally get to the end of my day and in utter exhaustion fall into bed between
10:30 and 11:30 pm.
For a very long time I have tried to fit time in for devotions whenever I felt I had a free moment. This method has failed me miserably. The Lord really began to deal with me concerning the excuses I would give to explain my ultimate lack of time spent with Him. One day I decided, if I had a public job ( I am a WORK at home Mom) I would most likely have to get up at
6:00 am every morning whether I felt like it or not. Why could I not show as much devotion to the Saviour of my soul?
I began my plan of action, one morning, by rolling over in bed at 6:00 and picking up my Bible. I began to read while my husband snored. The temptation to fall back to sleep was too great. My sleep filled eyes would get heavier and heavier until finally I was startled awake by the sound of my closing Bible when the hand holding it would fall over because it was attached to a sleeping body. I realized if I was going to be successful at consistency I would have to leave the bed behind to have my time with God.
The next morning the house was in a hushed silence ( which happens rarely in a house containing so many bodies) I creeped to the living room to avoid waking sleeping lions. When I sat down in my recliner it made a creaking noise as if to protest being used so early. The sound it made brought back unexpected memories from my childhood. How many times had I heard that sound wake me in the mornings? My parents took their place in their chairs early in the morning to have their time with God throughout my memories of childhood. My parents, however, were not the only ones who came to my mind this morning. I remembered spending the night at my Grandparent’s house and sleeping on the couch only to be awakened early in the morning as my Grandfather, Riley Hensley, took his place in his oversized chair. I remembered opening up sleepy eyes to see him reaching for his Bible, placed on a table, by that chair side. I closed my young eyes and contentedly went back to sleep in the soft glow of his lamp light and the gentle sound of turning pages. All these memories came flooding back to me the moment I heard the creaking chair of mine. I was no longer alone in my living room. I was surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses. They had set the example and unknowingly had witnessed to me of the importance of this sacred hour I now spent with God. I wept as I wondered if my children were listening. I wondered if I would be that witness to them. Would I continue the legacy of the creaking chair?
Each morning now when I wake up and I think about just rolling over and falling back to sleep I remember the sound of the creak in the chair and I think to myself, “What if that chair doesn’t creak today?” Any morning could be the morning my children would hear and learn the importance of such a time spent with God. A memory could be created that would get them out of bed in the later years of their life to nurture the treasure of a relationship with the Most High God. My faithfulness now could result in a lesson taught that would one day lead them to discover the love they can experience while spending time alone with God.
Maybe you have a chair like mine that should creak tomorrow morning. God Bless.
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