This morning I was woke up by a barking dog. I was very frustrated because I still had an hour to sleep before my alarm would go off. The barking didn't stop and I was wide awake. I had a thought that I should just get up and start my day. I could even at that point hear God telling me to get up and spend time with Him. Unfortunately I am a horrible morning person and groaned at the thought of getting out of a warm bed. While mentally trying to will myself out of bed I managed to fall back to sleep.
Minutes later a car alarm went off. I was rather grumpy then and yet at the same time could hear God asking me to get up. I laid there a bit longer and rationalized that if God really wanted me to get up He would send me another sign. Well, the first thing that jumped into my head after that was "Do not put the Lord your God to the test." (Matthew 4:7). My next complaint was "but I'm so tired" which was directly followed by "the spirit is willing, but the body is weak." (Matthew 26:41).
I wish I could say that I knew exactly where these verses were in the bible but I can't. I did some research on the Bible Gateway website. I also wish I could say that I got out of bed but I didn't. I'm sure if I had gotten up I would have had a wonderful visit with God. He took the time to personally invite me to be with Him this morning and I was too tired to listen.
An hour later I was woke up by the annoying beeping of my alarm. And I was still tired. That extra hour of sleep didn't help me feel more rested and in fact, I think I was more tired! I have such a hard time getting out of bed that I have my alarm clock across the room or I will snooze it endlessly. I have even gotten out of bed, hit snooze, and ran back under the covers. Brian has said it is rather comical to watch me do this.
I clicked on the translation from The Message for the verse I mentioned earlier about the body being weak and it said "There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there's another part that's as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire." That sure says it like it is! And sadly, that describes me.
So, I'll end with asking for prayers that the lazy old dog in me will wake up and be ready for anything!
