Awaken

I rise seeking the silence.  It is as if the Holy One who has set the sun loose for another day has awaken me.  I rise with a spirit that seeks Him and I know that the silence of the day's beginning is where He is known.  As surely as He was expected by the Garden couple "at the time of the evening breeze," (Genesis 3:8), so have I learned to expect Him in the silence of the morning.  I seek now for my spirit to be immersed for a moment in the warmth of His immeasurable love, His soul stirring grace, and most of all, the sense of Him being present in the moment and in my life.   

Like the ancient prophet, I, too, have come to know that there is no one to whom He may be compared.  He has no equal.  These eyes which were closed in deep sleep only moments ago long now for the lifting up which will enable me to know the One who calls all by their names. (Isaiah 40:26)   Indeed, He is the Holy One, the Creator, the One who gives every breath and blessing which is to come in this day. Over and over through the years, He has given me wing like strength and the heart that runs without weariness.  In the silence of this morning filled with His presence, I bow in adoration and thanksgiving.  

I know as well that His voice beckoned me from my sleep to pray for those of His whom He has placed on my heart.  I rise remembering my friend who fell and went through leg surgery yesterday, a classmate from high school who is beginning treatment for cancer, and the man who asked for help yesterday at the gas pump.  I pray this morning in the silence for the lost children whose lives have ended in tragedy and for parents who can only see empty beds, and for leaders to be healed of their pettiness, and for a church that is more fractured than whole.  Most of all I pray that the spirit of Jesus would find hearts open to being vessels of receiving His love and mercy and instruments for passing it on.  Grateful, too, am I that He has called me into the silence of His presence before I enter the noise of the day.