Rising Early

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"Someone may ask, "But why should I rise early?" To remain too long in bed is a waste of time. Wasting time is unbecoming to a saint who is bought by the precious blood of Jesus. His time and all that he has is to be used for the Lord. If we sleep more than is necessary for the refreshment of the body, it is wasting the time the Lord has entrusted us to be used for His glory, for our own benefit, and for the benefit of the saints and unbelievers around us.... Lying too long in bed not merely keeps us from giving the most precious part of the day to prayer and meditation, but this sloth leads also to many other evils. Anyone who spends one, two, or three hours in prayer and meditation before breakfast will soon discover the beneficial effect early rising has on the outward and inward man" -Excerpt from The Autobiography of George Muller

Can you imagine waking up early and spending one, two, or three hours in prayer and meditation before breakfast? When George Muller wrote this he was a married father and pastor who was running several orphan homes and schools... and he was not in good health! But, the amazing thing about Muller was that all of the finances for his homes and schools and even his own income all came from prayer. He never asked for a penny and yet all of his needs and the needs of hundreds of orphans were always provided for. Muller was obviously a very busy man and yet he never neglected prayer. In fact, he depended on prayer to provide for himself and many others.

I remember whenever I had a new baby and felt worn down and distant from God I was always given the advice that it was okay to miss quiet times and devotions and that this was just a season... And while I agree that it is a season which is difficult, it is not one in which prayer and communion with God should be abandoned in any way. In fact, when do we need God more than when we are sleep deprived and dealing with a brand new baby?

I want to encourage all of us moms of young children to not neglect rising early to be with the Lord. I don't always do this. Sometimes I wake up when my children wake up. When I do this I will usually try to turn on a PBS show and I will sit and do my "quiet time" while my kids are occupied. And while this time is certainly better than nothing it is so far from ideal. It does not begin to compare to the amazing communion with God that takes place in the quiet and still of the morning. We need that time with the Lord more than we need coffee my friends. That time with God is what sustains us on hard days... and not so hard days. It truly is our daily bread that we cannot live without.

I know when you have kiddos that wake up super early this can be difficult. My daughter used to wake up at 6 or earlier some days. At this point you have two choices... take some time and train them to wake up later or at least stay in bed later. (Have you seen these cool things? You set the time and it lets kiddos know when it is okay to leave their rooms!) Or wake up even earlier.

This is all coming from someone who is TERRIBLE at waking up early. But, I think George Muller is on to something. And I think being a mom and training up our little kiddos is hard work and we need to be as equipped as possible. And the only answer is time in prayer and meditation. Waking up early is hard but the pay off will be worth it.


I am linking up at The Better Mom today!