Early I Will Seek Him

 I have not slept with an alarm clock for decades. I awaken when God wakes me. He is often creative in the ways He does it. Sometimes it's through just waking up and not being able to go back to sleep. Many times it happens after getting up to go to the restroom. The most painful way is when I get leg cramps. 

I am not joking when I write of the many times I have awakened only to turn over and tell God no. Not that early. More times than I can recount that no was followed by a severe leg cramp that did not subside until I got up and went to my secret place to meet with God. You think I would learn but from time to time I still have to be alarmed awake by another cramp. 

Those wake up calls can vary anywhere between 1:30-5:00 am. My desire to seek God is greater than my desire to sleep. Sometimes this has meant using lunch for a nap more than food, but my desire is seek God. Even when it means doing so early. 

We learn in Mark 1:35 it was the habit of Jesus to seek the Father early before the sun rose. I try to follow His example. There is nothing I do on any given day that is more important than those early morning seeking hours. I cannot even begin to describe the special God encounters I have enjoyed in those secret times. They do not happen every time but they do enough that it motivates me to keep getting up. To read His word. To pray. To listen. To intercede for others. 

I can barely stay awake past 9:00 pm. I fall asleep in my recliner and have learned that going to bed early is a small price to pay in order to seek Him early. It is an addictive hunger. The more I encounter Him the more I long for additional experiences with Him. That is my agenda. To seek Him. To learn from Him. To grow closer to Him. To know Him. To pursue Him. To follow hard after Him. I hope it is yours as well. 

Ps 42:1-2.