Early in the Morning

Does it matter WHEN we rise?

I woke up at 4 a.m. this morning with a dry allergy cough. For a brief moment, I considered staying in bed and trying to go back to sleep, but when I felt my husband’s breathing shift beside me, I knew I was disturbing him and purposed to just get up. Now, I prefer rising early. God wired me to be that way. But anything before 5:30 a.m. is too early even in my little Morning Lark corner of the world.

Over the years, I’ve been lauded for the productivity of my early morning tendencies. Women have asked for my secret of happily tackling the morning hours, of reading my Bible in the dark and having a load of laundry running before the rooster crows. More than once, I’ve read blog posts and devotionals patting me on the back for my holy habit. I’ve even heard pastors preach entire sermons on the virtues of not wasting the day, of copying Jesus’ example of rising before dark, of how people of purpose don’t waste time in bed past 6 a.m.

As I’ve said, I’m a early riser, so all of this makes perfect sense.

But… what if I wasn’t?

What if my husband worked a shift that meant my early rising would mean missing out on time with him? What about those exhausting years of night waking with littles? What about people who are (gasp!) just more productive in the evening than in the morning?

The more I’ve contemplated it over the years, the more I’ve seen that small things elevated to measures of holiness can be hurtful to our faith. The woman in circumstances that give her the chance to sit with her Bible, to pray in silence, to cry out to God before sleep rather than after is no less desiring to walk in His ways. When we hobble her with the burden of a schedule change, we run the risk of sowing discontent in her heart over her role as the mother of young children, or a continual feeling of lack as she struggles to be something that simply isn’t in her makeup.

Friends, I can’t argue that Scripture indicates the early morning more often than not. But I definitely don’t think Jesus would reject those who seek Him at times other than dawn.

Instead of focusing on the when, can we instead encourage others— and ourselves— to make that time apart happen at all? Can we acknowledge that each one of us is imperfect, and that’s exactly why we need Christ?

I pray you spend quality time in the Word today. My hope for you is that you can pray with thanksgiving, with supplication, and with a heart hungering to be formed to His. And no, I don’t care when you do it. You are my sister whether your Bible opens at 5 a.m., or 10 p.m.

In Christ,

Heather