A couple of weeks ago, I fell into a overwhelmed and stressed out “funk.” When I feel over-the-top overwhelmed, I react in one of two ways depending on the day. I either do all.the.things in one day or I do none.of.the.things because I feel too overwhelmed to start. I had a couple of those none.of.the.things days earlier this month. My life was getting a little crazy with regular home duties, working on this blog, working in my copywriting business and house hunting.
I’m sure your list looks a little different than mine, but I’m betting that we have all found ourselves feeling overwhelmed this month. And yet isn’t Christmas supposed to be full of peace and joy? That’s what I kept wondering in the middle of my funk.
And then I figured it out. Peace and joy can’t be manufactured or stirred up; they come from God. And my quiet times had gotten pretty lazy. I’m not sure if reading a 5-minute devotional, and then going on with my morning routine even counts. If I read a 5-minute article about marriage but never spent time with my husband, we wouldn’t have a very good relationship. And it’s the same way with God.
So if you feel you’re as likely to find peace and joy as you are to find Santa Claus, put these three things at the top of your daily to do list.
- Worship and mini prayer.
When my mind is too busy to concentrate on God, I break out some worship music. Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum has a worship album called Love Remains that is my current favorite. I listen to one or two songs to quiet my mind and focus on the Lord. Then I pray and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to me, to open my heart and mind to what He has to say and to help me to be obedient. - Read a devotional or a passage of scripture.
Depending on how much time I have, I either read a short devotional and a passage of scripture or just a devotional. My favorite devotional right now is on the She Works His Way app. And I study one book of the Bible at a time and read until something speaks to me. - Pray.
I ask God to show me how I can apply whatever He’s shown me that day. I pray that He will help me keep my thoughts focused on Him that day (Isaiah 26:3) and to give me opportunities to love on those I see, starting in my own home. This is also the time that I pray for others. Keeping a list or notecard with prayer requests helps me to remember who to pray for.
Let me be real. I don’t always do this. There are days when I jump out of bed and barely think of God at all. I am so thankful for His faithfulness to me even when I’m not faithful to Him. But I can testify that when I do start my mornings like this, the day goes completely differently.
Give it a try and see what you think.