Shhh, listen, not to the sounds around you but the thoughts within your mind. Are you seeking the Lord right now? Are you able to walk peacefully in the garden of your heart as you accept the Spirit’s call to sit and relax in the freshness of the new day? Or does it seem like your to-do list is overwhelming today but, somehow you must squeeze in a few minutes for God before Satan knows you’re awake? Are you playing beat the clock? If you are, you have gone into battle before you even got dressed.

“Take every thought captive and make it obey the Messiah.”  (2 Corinthians 10:5) Have you ever told yourself the chaos is too great and you can’t survive the hurricane, there is no safe place from your storm? I have. I have allowed the inner struggle to devour me, make me feel defeated, even pray to be taken out of the game–sure I have nothing to offer and I am wasting good air that would be better used by someone else. Poor, poor, pitiful me. 

I forgot: “We are not struggling against human beings, but against the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers governing this darkness.” (Ephesians 6:12) I forgot to get dressed. But, the Lord, my Strength, says, “Stand! Have the belt of truth buckled around your waist, put on righteousness for a breastplate, and wear on your feet the readiness that comes from the Good News of shalom. Always carry the shield of trust, with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the Evil One. And take the helmet of deliverance, along with the sword given by the Spirit, that is, the Word of God.” (Ephesians 6:14-17)

Remember, God can make the sun stand still if you need more time. (Joshua 10:13) Don’t start your day without him.