As I propped myself up in bed, about to start my Quiet Time, I said “I can’t wait for this day to be over.” Sure enough, God did not let me go into Quiet Time with that attitude so I paused and tried to unpack that statement. The night before, I had shared on a prayer call that I had been feeling rather tired, a tiredness born not from the commonplace causes such as deadlines and tall to-do lists but from a place within. That morning, the thought of having to get up, to show up and think, wore me out even before I left my room. Then like sunlight at the crack of dawn, the words of a friend from the prayer call, came to me and refreshed my thoughts. My friend had said that she had dealt with something similar in the past and she overcame that by asking Holy Spirit, the beautiful Spirit of God, “What should I do today?” in the mornings. Her words reminded me that I have a support system in Holy Spirit who I can ask for guidance for the day’s work. 

Within the next two days, my Sprit led me to two sermons that helped me understand why such little things were causing great stress. In the first sermon I watched, the preacher explained that God wants to help you but you must show up and show up with a good attitude. God had already gone ahead of me on that day but without the right attitude or perspective, I would have missed it or not enjoyed the fullness of it. Secondly, I was simply overthinking. The second sermon I watched taught me that sometimes, we are too preoccupied with the future that we are unable to enjoy the gift of the present. There is grace, more than enough for each day. 

There’ll always be seasons of the blues-the days when we don’t feel like getting out of bed and showing up, but if we get into rhythm with God, He can always make our days a little brighter. Yes, God was in the middle of the day when I felt relief and at the end when I felt joy, but He was also at the very beginning when I didn’t feel so great; I just needed to lean into Him. People often believe that God is at the end of the storm or that He shows up as light at the end of a tunnel. In reality, He is the calm in the storm, the light in the darkness. I pray that we learn to tap into God who is ever-present, ever-close. The goal state of our relationship with God should be perfect rhythm with God, like a dance that never stops, to a song that never ends.*

QUOTES

“Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.”-Micah 7:8. 

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”-Isaiah 30:21. 

“The rhythm of heaven is the rhythm of my heart.”-TY Bello. 

RESOURCES 

• The concept of today’s piece, “Rhythm,” was inspired by a song: May I Never Be Too Fast-Ty Bello & Theophilus Sunday. 

PRAYER REQUEST

Today, we’re praying for the people of Ukraine. May God have mercy, stand guard over their city and bring an end to the war. (“He causes wars to cease all over the earth”-Psalm 46:9-11.)