“He awakens Me morning by morning.” (Isaiah 50:4)

God desires to encounter His people each and every day.

Many of us do not live out our full potential every day. For one, we focus on our plans rather than embracing the opportunities each day offers. We think in terms of weeks or months but rarely live each day fully. However, Jesus makes it clear that we are to live each day as a complete unit. “Each day has enough worries of its own.” Just as God sent manna daily, He provides for us through His Word each day. We weren’t created to rely on yesterday’s blessings from meeting God. If Jesus lived day by day, then we should follow His example. We meet with God so that, like Jesus, we have clear guidance on how to live and serve others each day. This insight doesn’t mean that God never gives us plans covering multiple days, but that we should accomplish those plans one day at a time. Let’s examine this phrase in three parts.

Guided by my Father’s Purpose

Have you ever been nudged awake by the Lord? Most of us are probably wondering whether I am crazy to ask this question. We think of being awakened by all kinds of alarms. Many of us have mastered snoozing an extra 5 minutes into our day’s schedule. Mothers call us. Phones wake us up. Our roommate’s door slams. A cry from a child startles us awake.

Though the Lord rarely awakens us, this is how Jesus began His day. Once we understand God’s mission for our lives, we then need to seek grace and wisdom for each day. Every day, we must receive our mission assignment. When we go to sleep, we speak with our Father to keep us safe and prepare us for tomorrow. We look forward to meeting our Heavenly Father each day and desire to hear from Him. We must hear from Him. Morning devotions are rooted not in compulsion or fear but in the desire to meet God and do His will. When we are older, we wake up often. If I can’t go back to sleep, I figure the Lord wants me to meet with Him and have early quiet times.

This inspiring meeting with God won’t happen if you go to sleep preoccupied with watching movies, doing homework, or playing games. It will occur when you pray and meditate before sleeping, with the expectation of meeting Him in the morning so you can hear how He wants to work through your life the next day. One good brother I know wakes up each morning with “Praise the Lord.” His first thoughts and words are from the Lord.

The servant image might help us. The servant is up early, tending to the fire for the Master. He knows what his master needs, so he is attentive and awakens early enough to complete his jobs. As slaves, we awaken to do our Master’s will. We are attentive from the day’s beginning.

The Anticipation of my Father’s Ways

We live for our Father’s purposes. He knows exactly how to combine acts of love, mercy, and words of evangelism with all the other demands like deadlines, tests, interviews, sickness, children, and more. We must not separate them from each other; they are all interconnected. “And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Whenever any part of our life does not align with what our Father desires, it becomes an idol. To make matters worse, our heart’s affection for things other than God’s will and purpose is a form of spiritual adultery. But things are vastly different when we focus on His will.

As we wake up, we look forward to our time with our Father. This is when He equips us. It’s not the only time He helps, but it’s when He gives us a general sense of how He will guide us through the day. We enjoy time in His Word and meditate on scripture passages. We expect Him to speak.

The opposite of this, unfortunately, is when we do not expect to meet God. Self-reliance and self-preoccupation are common for many. Many of us lack training on how to meditate on God’s Word or pray. We do something and then call it devotions. One can see how cheap and inferior this is to what is supposed to happen. No wonder few Christians look forward to meeting with God! Have you ever heard someone say, “I got devotions out of the way”? Whoops! We just showed how trivial our time with God was. If this is what your time was like, you didn’t meet God—at least the God of Scripture who met Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Oh, may the Lord of Hosts renew our passion for knowing and pleasing Him. Our times with Him will be entirely transformed. Do you remember the times Jesus spent with the Father? He would often climb a mountain, step away from good friends and many admirers to meet with His Father.

Consistency in knowing my Father’s Will

Jesus woke up before His disciples. They would need to go find Him. I know many of us might think, “I am extra busy today,” but that only hurts us. We waste so many hours each day. It’s clear that we lack discipline. Due to the downsizing of the family and the increasing wealth in our lives, it’s easy to go through life without good discipline. The Father is clearly asking each of us to meet with Him morning by morning.

Someone might object, saying there is no such command. But this is not the voice of a disciple. If Jesus is our Master, are we not supposed to do what He does? I have found in my own experience that God develops more and more discipline in my life. I thought I was disciplined, but then He brought extra responsibility into my life in the form of a project, a child, or a needy person. I had to readjust my schedule to meet His—what seemed to be—His impossible will.

Some will protest that they meet God night after night. That is good, but we need to start each day correctly by meeting Him every morning. This is when we receive His instructions through praise and declaring His greatness, and when we are encouraged or comforted. If He does not meet our needs, then it becomes difficult for us to meet the needs of others. If we are worried about something, can we truly focus on the needs of others? No.

Jesus, the master disciple, did not make exceptions when it came to learning. Every day, He spent time with the Father. Each morning, He eagerly looked to see what God His Father would teach Him. There is no break from learning from the Lord.

Applications

• Has he ever awakened you? How did you respond?

• Are your late hours dedicated to Him or yourself? What adjustments can you make?

• What do you expect to happen during your morning devotions?

• How regular is your time with the Lord? It needs to be each morning.