Early Morning Fellowship with Jesus > Sleeping In

I’m 10 months postpartum, and for the last 10 months, my alarm clock has been my son…

AKA, my day starts when his does. AKA, I immediately feel “behind” for the day, and the anxiousness rolls in.

This is how I’ve been living for almost a year…

And by last Wednesday, I’d had enough.

So I told my husband that no matter what… I was going to wake up at 6:00 AM every day.

No. Matter. What!!

I passionately told him that I deleted all my (twelve) other alarm options…6:30, 6:40, 6:50, 7:00, 7:20 AM…

Alas, I had no other option but to wake up at 6:00 AM.

This meant that whether I went to bed at 9:00 PM or 1:00 AM, I had to get up at six.

So why am I writing a blog about this?

Because for the past 29 years of my life, I have put a LOT of value in how much sleep I get each night. I loveee sleep. And I love getting lots of it—at least 8 or 9 hours a night…

If I didn’t get that much, I’d half-function the next day. Or so I told myself.

But of course, this all went out the window when I had a baby last year.

For the first few months, I was getting up 3 or 4 times a night to breastfeed. My sleep was disrupted, and that’s something I had to surrender to the LORD.

But now, my son sleeps through the night and so do I…

So the fact that the Holy Spirit graciously gave me conviction on this—i.e., getting up at 6 in the morning to spend time with my Father—is a big deal.

But of course, spiritual warfare happens…

By the time Wednesday night rolled around, I got to bed later than I wanted. So I took a sleep supplement to try to knock out as soon as possible. Said sleep supplement doesn’t work. And I start tossing and turning until well past midnight…

Anxious thoughts start spiraling in…

”Oh no, I’m going to get less than six hours of sleep.” “Maybe I should set a new alarm for 7:00 am.” “Ugh, maybe I’ll just start this another day.”

And you know what I realized in that moment?

If I were to follow through and wake up at six the next day, the LORD would HAVE to give me grace.

Because I would be tired. And I would need His grace to sustain me.

So...

I woke up less than six hours later.

And I have every day since.

And you know what?

My time with Jesus in the morning—before my husband and baby get up—is infinitely more important than the number of hours I sleep could ever get.

For so long, I’ve put sleep ABOVE the precious time I could be spending with our Creator—worshipping Him, praying to Him, getting to know Him better through His Word.

I thank the LORD for opening my eyes about this. For bringing me to the end of myself last week.

So if you’re reading this, I plead with you… wake up early tomorrow! Delete all your other alarm options and set one for 6:00 AM!

Make a coffee, open up your Bible, and spend sacred time with the LORD.

Never once will you think, “Man, I wish I didn’t do that.”

Instead, your soul will be filled with “joy that comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5) and “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).

That’s how vital Jesus time is to your heart and soul and mind.

Don’t let the enemy steal your mornings.