Monday morning seems to be a thing most people dread.  I, on the other hand, bounced out of bed with a “Good morning” in my heart, thanking the Lord for a new day.  (I would have said it out loud, but I didn’t want to wake my sleeping roommates.)  And it is my goal to greet every morning in that fine fashion because it sets a good tone for my whole day.  If everyone would take up the same practice, mornings would be a much nicer time.

Some people aren’t, shall we say, “morning people,” and I can sympathize with that – I am not a “night person.” (Or a “night owl,” or whatever it is that we call those people who like to stay awake into the wee hours of the day.)  I understand.  But we don’t have to allow things like this the power to determine the quality of our lives.  They can certainly guide our choices, but it should do so only to a degree.  I don’t think that everyone needs to bounce out of bed and start grinning each morning (that is just my usual habit); however, I DO think that every person ought to make the choice to have a good day, the choice to like life.

Now that I am in college, I find myself with all these weird people who like to stay up late (or early, depending on how you look at it).  My ideal bedtime is 10:30, and I have thankfully been put in a room with two fabulous roommates who also prefer an “early to bed” routine.  However, there is some great stuff going on at late hours of the night here on my Bible college campus, like dorm floor-fellowships, game nights (board games, of course), movie nights, praise concerts, and weekly Friday night worship sessions.  And though I am not a “night person” (sometimes I can hardly keep my eyes open), I don’t want to miss out on opportunities to fellowship with God and friends because I was so stuck on my bedtime.  God has been telling me to “live a little” and enjoy my time here.  (It might sound odd to you, but I have to diligently seek out fun; left to my own devices I would sit in my room and do homework all day.)  I have come to the place where I must begin telling myself, multiple times a day if necessary, “I like night; I am a night person.”  I am not really, you see, but our words have power, and if I affirm this enough, it will actually become true.

No, this is not some sort of strange chanting thing; and no, it is not ridiculous, though it may at first seem so.  Hear my heart.  I am not saying you need to dance around all day singing “I Like Life,” but as sons and daughters of an infinitely good heavenly Father, we need to speak life into our own lives.  What does Scripture have to say about this?  It is very clear:

“For out of the overflow of [man’s] heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).

If what we say reveals what is in our heart, then we are all guilty at some point or another of speaking evil things over our own lives.  Why does this matter?  It matters because “[t]he tongue has the power of life and death” (Proverbs 18:21).  We Christians spout this over and over when it comes to the way we ought to treat others, but why do we not apply it in our own lives?  When we consistently speak negative things into being, we ruin our chances of enjoying the place where God has us now.

It has become my practice to speak positive things into my own life.  So when I rise, I say, “I love my God; I love my life; I love my family; I love my friends; I love my school; I love my classes; I love what God is doing in me, around me, and through me.”  And I say it frequently throughout the day so that, when feelings and circumstances lie to me, I can combat them with truth.  And the Truth is that my Jesus is amazing, so my life can be no less than wonderful.

My prayer: “Jesus, open my eyes to the good things all around me.  I want to see every blessing, to capture every moment, to seize every opportunity to rejoice in all that You are doing.  May my life be full of Your pure Light, because it is Your Light that gives color to my life; only a life lived in darkness is devoid of color.  Your beauty makes me feel like dancing.  May my life be a bold and shimmering reflection of Your color; saturate me with Your joyous Light.”

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

We all go through seasons in our lives.  Right now, God is bringing me into a new season, and it actually has nothing to do with my circumstances this time.  Rather, He told me that He wants to bring me into a season of silence – not of His silence but of my silence.  I am a “talker” (I get it from my daddy).  I like words; and sometimes, to be quite honest, I like to hear myself talk.  It is good to be bold and have something meaningful to say, but listening is a vital part of true conversation.  The Lord is always speaking; therefore if I am not hearing Him, the problem is that I am not listening.

“In the silence
You are speaking
In the quiet I can feel the fire
And it’s burning, burning deeply
Burning all that it is that you desire to be silent, in me”

Now, I love the Lord very much.  I go about my day basking in His presence and am always communicating with Him.  When I have my morning quiet time, I pour out my heart to Him and ask Him for greater wisdom and deeper compassion and other good things like that.  And the Lord loves that.  But at this time in my life He has laid it on my heart that He wants to reveal more to me, to bring me to the places of His heart that I have never yet been.  And to do that, He needs my silence.  That’s not to say that I can’t lift my voice in worship or that I can’t rise in the morning and thank Him for a new day.  However, I don’t need to remind Him about myself because He knows me, knows the deep dreams within me; He created me and sees every intimate place of my heart.  But now He wants me to know the intimate places of His heart.

“Cause I’d rather stand here speechless
With no great words to say
If my silence is more truthful
And my ears can hear how to walk in your way”
(Lyrics from Jason Upton’s “In the Silence”)

For the time being, I have been called into a season of silence, a season of listening.  I will not put any boundaries or stipulations on it; I will not ask for greater clarity regarding my path or even ask for more of my Lord through this.  Instead I am entering in with my heart wide open, ready to receive whatever He has for me.  I don’t even know how long this will last, but I am simply stepping into it with expectation of God doing whatever He wants to do.  I have just one thing to say:

“Here I am, Lord.  As You wish; Your will be done.”

And now I wait in the silence for the still, small Voice.