The sun is rising. The horizon is just beginning to lighten up from the evening’s midnight blue that covered the escape of the heavens from my bedroom window. The birds are sitting on ledges all around and they are chirping back and forth as if having a sweet melodic conversation that involves the morning’s sunrise. Heaven’s ear may be tuning in and enjoying the birdsong. I did as I stirred from my night’s recovery.
Although I’m not a parent, I do at times partake in some of their duties. I will lend a helping hand or maybe stand in a cold parking lot helping the boy scouts sell Christmas trees. Sometimes its going to a play and cheering on a loved one while rocking the Capitals Red! This morning though, I had the privilege of awaking and moving to the comforts of my recliner and practice the art of sleep prayer (Matthew 8: 24 NASB) while reading Matthew’s account of Jesus coming into this world and the impression He started to make upon it.
It is this time of quiet that the Lord and I enjoy. It begins early and ends late, but hey, I’m ok with that. Its important to stay connected when you are in a relationship. Just watch the ministry of Jesus, He would pull away from the crowds, disciples, and family, just to spend time with His Dad. In Matthew’s sixth chapter we find one of the greatest gifts in Jesus’ ministry, the Lord’s Prayer, a.k.a. The Our Father. He gives emphatic hints on how to develop one’s prayer life (vs 5-15).
Its in prayer life where we become refreshed and find new details of revelation. It’s a time we hideaway from the normalcy in life and seek Him. It was this Saturday morning where I had the pleasure of picking up my nephew from camp. It was a time of hideaway and refuge in seeking the Lord as an individual and as a group of young soon to be adults. It was a taste of heaven.
When God opens His doors, the sanctuary fills in. The open doors of the summer camp provided faded memories of when, as a young Christian, I went to a few services in Ashland Virginia. It was some hot, sticky, and sweaty times, but the Lord was real and relevant. Some of those leaders have gone home to Jesus now, but the Spirit carries on!
This camp held by Difference Makers Church was benefiting all involved. Although my time there was mere moments compared to the week’s long journey that each one of them had experienced, yet the impact was testified to. I walked the grounds with a camp counselor to find the young man I came to retrieve, but in so doing, I could see the traces of God’s impact on them and the youth filling the hidden crevices of rest with some much needed sleep prayer.
Walking towards the cabin, I ran into the pastor of the fold. A pleasant woodsman of a man with a gift for ministering to the lost and hurting. Upon a gentleman’s handshake a band had broken. The watch that wrapped my wrist fell to the graveled ground and was quick to collect the dust from its short journey. It was there in that moment where a instant with God releases an envelope full of messages.
I could hear Him impress with the words: “the bands of time are broken and redeemed. What was lost is now found. I will be here with you / them.” Stealing time is what sin does. It pulls us away from the One who created us. But in redemption, we find that our journey begins anew. Your count to a million may not be enough! Ten times that and ten times more!
Godspeed, The Journeyman
Ps. One final note, an apostle born out of time (I Corinthians 15: 8) gave some helpful instructions to the church in Colossae: “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time (Colossians 4:5 KJV).”
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