Lifting Fog

"You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. ⁶So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled." 1 Thessalonians 5:5,6

For probably the last month or so I've been really tired and sluggish. We picked up a bug or a cold or something and it just kept hanging on and hanging on and it's been so difficult finding the motivation to get anything done. I was getting up later every morning, it seemed. We would get school done for the day and by then I was just exhausted! My brain didn't even want to function to figure out something for dinner or to read a real involved book. As the days went by and I was still tired, I just blamed it on being busy and having this cold thing going on. I figured it would go away eventually, and if it didn't, well, there's always coffee to give me a little pick-me-up during the day.

Thank God for His Goodness.

Daylight savings time this year was such a gift. I slept and slept that extra time and woke up so refreshed and rested. This morning I woke up at a more normal time, and it just feels great to be alive and awake this morning. And while I could blame this great feeling on daylight savings, I know that's not really the case. The answer is found here in 1 Thessalonians- I am a son of light and a son of day, which means I get to be alert and self-controlled. Alert means that my brain is on full cognition capabilities- I can think about meals and getting some work done around the house. And I think I really just needed to read these verses and say okay to them. I needed to believe that I truly AM a child of God and that I belong in the day, full of energy and alertness.

"She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands." Proverbs 31:13

Eager hands are not tired hands. Eager hands are the ones that are always busy, and always mindful of the tasks to come yet. Eager hands are not the ones that sit down and get sucked into the internet vortex for hours at a time, because there is no energy to do anything else. I have eager hands!

"She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks. " Proverbs 31:17

Instead of waking in the morning, still feeling tired, and like I want to sleep for a few hours, I've been doing something a little different when I wake up. I lay there for a few extra minutes. And while I'm laying there, I may think a little about the tasks that lay before me, but mostly, I'm just laying there smiling, and thanking God for this new day. Before I even get out of bed, I am thanking God for the day before me, and asking for His provision of strength and energy for the day. Did you know that if you ask God for strength and energy He'll give it to you? Those days where it just seems impossible to make it to bedtime, all it takes is a cry to the Lord and He will hear your cry and answer?

"When I called, you answered me;
you made me bold and stouthearted." Psalm 138:3

God is so good. He knows what my day is going to be like before I even get out of bed. He knows every step that my feet are going to take before my eyes even open. I may as well thank Him for those steps before I even take the first one, because I know that He is going to be with me as I take all those steps. And as I thank Him for those moments before they even arrive, I am filled with His love and His assurance that every step is full of Him. Now how can that not fill me with energy and eagerness?