Morning Meetings

Long ago I learned the value of morning meetings with the Lord.  When I left for college, I stuck a cloth bookmark which had a Ralph Cushman poem entitled, "The Secret" on my desk lamp.  The last verse of the poem reads, "So I think I know the secret, Learned from many a troubled way.  You must seek Him in the morning, If you want Him through the day."   Surprisingly enough, I pulled out the lamp the other day and the poem was still attached.  I wish I could say such had been my practice since those young college years, but it took too long to come to the place of embracing the practice of rising for those early mornings with Word and prayer. 

 

I was reminded of all of this the other morning when I encountered the presence of God, not in the pages of the gospel, but from the front porch.   On that morning the tire tracks, about which I wrote a previous blog, became for me the Word of God for the day.  You see, one of the practical values of early morning risings is that it often seems some verse of Scripture, or an image sticks in my spirit.  It gets carried around through the day and I often find myself coming back to it as a focus for continued reflection, or meditation.  My experience has been that the Word God begins to speak in the morning is not completely comprehended until I have lived with it for a bit.  All through that day which began  on the porch, the image of the tire tracks stayed alive as a Word God was speaking to my heart.

 

It is interesting to realize that God works in our lives in different ways.  In God's eyes we are truly individuals, unique creatures, one of a kind, not to be duplicated, so it makes sense to think that He would speak to each of us in a way that somehow fits how He created us to be.  Some may have those "light bulb" moments, those epiphanies, where divine truth is evident and clear.  Others of us may find it coming at a much slower place.  Me? I am just thankful He takes the time to speak to an old sinner like me who remains so dependent upon His mercy and grace.