Worship Opportunities

What’s one habit that has improved your life the most?

What’s one habit that has changed your life the most? I hesitate to respond to this prompt for fear that I’m so convincing that others may adopt my practice, and rather than having quiet mornings, I’ll have crowded mornings. Because I have such a love for this habit, though, I can’t resist writing about it. 

The one habit that has changed my life is being present and attentive, preferably outside, as night gives way to day. God uses the dawn to preach a series of messages I need to hear daily.

Message #1: God is sovereign and faithful. 

This is the loudest and most important message. In my 45 years of life, there’s not a day where the sun didn’t rise. Every day, it is right on time, sometimes flooding the sky with colorful shouts of God’s creative, trustworthy, and orderly rhythms. 

Hazy pastels are the palette of humid summers, while crisp fall air paints vibrant, deeper hues of pinks, oranges, yellows, and sometimes purples. Even on cloudy mornings when the sunrise is concealed, I know it’s still there. Black gives way to grey instead of blue, yet the subtlety of its ascension still preaches of God’s faithfulness.

It’s striking that so many references to the dawning of day throughout Scripture are mentioned by the prophets. Given their difficult ministries, it’s easy to imagine why they needed this message, as did God’s people. Nothing has changed; we need it, too. 

Message #2: You are a limited human being.

Managing schedules, shuttling children, and conquering my daily lists can trick me into believing my self-worth stems from what I do rather than Whose I am. I fall prey to the lie that everything depends on me. While I desire to be faithful to the tasks God has called me to, this predictable transition speaks to me of how little control I actually have. 

The daily sunrise resets my gaze, reorients me in time and space, and puts me back in my place. It reminds me what a tiny fragment of existence I am, and I’m humbled by my limitations. The sun isn’t waiting on me in order to rise; I’ll never have power to order its rhythms. 

God gently, yet powerfully puts me in my place, securely at rest under His sovereign care.

Message #3: People make terrible gods.

As the morning sky proclaims God’s glory, I remember that my fellow man is restrained by the same limitations as me. This sets not only myself in the proper position, but other people, as well. It’s easy to put people on thrones they will never be worthy to occupy. Like me, they have no power over creation’s rhythms. 

So, as the sunrise shows the greatness of God with each new day, I’m reminded not to elevate people around me but to think of us as equals. God alone is worthy to be on the throne of our hearts. 

Message #4: You can rest because He doesn’t have to.

Because of my love for the early morning hours, I confess, I probably don’t get as much rest as I should. Yet, I’m able to sleep because in the dawning of each new day, I am reminded that God has been awake all night. Consider Psalm 121:3-4 “He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.” 

Listening to crickets carry the melody of the night, hearing a whippoorwill or owl send out their calls before the morning songbirds take over their melody, tells me that while I was sleeping, God kept His creation going. The stars dotting the black sky remain exactly as they were. I can sleep. He’s keeping things in order while I do.

Message #5: You can be free from worry as you “consider the sparrows.” 

Songs fill the air with music no instrument can replicate. It’s no wonder that Jesus calls our attention to these feathery friends in His creative order. He gives us this gentle lesson from the birds:

“Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?” Matthew 6:25-26

Fear shrinks through the whispers of our faithful provider. 

Tomorrow morning before I’ve crossed off any items on my to-do list, God’s creation will testify again to His faithfulness, power, and care. He’ll preach the same sermons again. Will I listen?