How the Bible Wakes Me Up

It’s grey and rainy this morning.

The wind is moving through the trees outside my kitchen window as the branches bend to the right and to the left.

Even though I went to bed early last night,

every part of me wants to curl back up and sleep a little more.

With hot tea in hand, I begin reading,

determined to stay awake and see what God has to say as the sun tries to wake up the earth.

But this morning, even the sky seems sleepy.

I’ve been sitting here an hour,

and it’s still as dark outside as when I first crawled out of bed.

I want to read until something stops me,

catches my eye and my heart.

This morning the stories of David and Joab ( and what seems like a hundred other men with strange names) don’t move me.

The Psalms don’t even stir me.

I’m more drawn to the rain falling outside than I am the words I’m reading inside.

Verse after verse.

Chapter after chapter.

The sky has opened up but my heart feels closed.

I refuse to write about words that haven’t stirred me.

So I keep reading.

More men are murdered,

more mistakes are made,

and all the while,

the rain falls and my dryer spins.

And finally,

it happens.

David’s life is nearing its end,

the consequences of sin have turned his life upside down over and over again,

and he’s ready to hand the kingdom over to his son.

Like any good father, David wants to give Solomon a head start on the tasks assigned to him,

so he begins collecting supplies for the building of the temple.

He orders all the leaders of Israel to help his son.

He then speaks these words,

“Determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God.”

I Chron. 22:19

Finally, twelve words stop me after hundreds have not.

Determine.

“To make a strong decision.”

Seeking God is always a choice.

A choice we are free to make…..

or not.

And David knows it won’t always be easy.

So he begins this sentence by telling Solomon he will have to decide…..

and then decide all over again…..

every single morning.

I hear the words of Joshua to the Israelites,

“Choose this day whom you will serve.”

Joshua 24:15

It’s always a choice.

Determine yours today,

whether the sun is shining or rain is falling.

Who will you serve?

In your mind and heart.

It’s one thing to know God is worth seeking.

It’s another thing to feel it.

David tells Solomon he must choose both.

The knowing and the feeling.

David knew doubts would sometimes rise and life would sometimes hurt,

so he wanted Solomon to remember………

no matter what might happen in his heart or in his mind,

God would never change.

Seek the Lord your God.

There’s no need to seek something that’s always in plain sight,

and David, of all people, knows firsthand that God’s presence isn’t always easy to feel or find.

He wants Solomon to know this too.

There will be times when the only way to find God is by seeking Him.

“Determine in your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God.”

I Chron. 22:19

This morning, I was sleepy.

I wanted to curl up and sleep a little longer.

The rain fell.

My dryer spinned.

I didn’t “feel” like reading,

but I “knew” I needed to,

so I determined to keep turning the pages of my Bible.

Verse after verse.

Chapter after chapter.

Until both my heart and my mind found what I needed.

I’m so thankful I did.

David knew what Solomon needed thousands of years ago,

and he knew what I needed this morning.

That’s the thing I love most about the Bible.

It’s alive and active,

and it always wakes me up if I keep reading.

Ask and it will be given to you;

seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

Matt. 7:7

(Today’s reading was from II Sam. 19-21; Psalm 5; 38; 42;  II Sam. 22-23; Psalm 57;  Psalm 97; 99; II Sam. 24; I Chron. 21-22; and Psalm 30.)