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“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” —Matthew 11:28

What does a typical morning in your house, in your life, in your day, look like? Does it consist of the smell of Starbucks wafting through the house and sunlight glittering through the windows while you listen to the sound of birds singing their hearts out, as you read your Bible? If it does, don’t tell me; I might be jealous.

A typical morning for me usually consists of the smell of my toddler’s dirty diaper, feeding the dog with my eyes half shut, making my coffee and forgetting about it until it’s lukewarm, and fixing my husband’s hair as he rushes out the door. Pretty soon, I’m running errands, wiping up a spilled sippy cup, and folding a load of laundry. Before I know it, it’s time to make lunch and put the baby down for a nap. What happened to my morning? It packed its bags and decided to come back tomorrow.

Most of you might relate, but with a few modifications. Maybe there’s not a toddler, but there’s a job to get to, work to be done, bills to be paid. Maybe there is a class at school that you can’t miss or a job that you’d better not be late to.

How do you feel most mornings? Snippy? Snappy? Unhappy? I have to admit that a lot of mornings have looked like that for me lately and I know exactly why: I failed to spend time with Jesus before I started my day.

I was at a Bible study a couple of weeks ago and the guest speaker gave a message that dealt a lot with the importance of doing daily devotions with Jesus—and the importance of doing them in the morning. It was amazing! And God totally used it to help me start getting back on track with my devotions. I used to be so strict about doing my devotions every single morning before I went to work. It was awesome, and so many mornings, God would speak something to my heart. But then somewhere along the way, I had a baby and I started getting slack on doing them every day.

It didn’t take long for me to start noticing changes in my attitude and behavior. You know the phrase, “If momma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy”? Well, it’s very true! When I don’t spend time with Jesus first thing in the morning, I’m not happy. Therefore nobody’s happy. I get snippy with my toddler, snappy with my husband, and just plain unhappy everywhere I go. My face starts to resemble someone who’s been eating way too many Warheads. My husband will sometimes ask me, “What did you read in your Bible today?” I’m convinced that this is his sweet way of telling me that my attitude is not going the right direction.

Jesus knows us; He knows how we as women run around and do so many various things all day. I love what He said to Martha in Luke 10:

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38–42 NKJV)

Jesus knows how busy we are; He knows that we have responsibilities, jobs, families, etc. But what is most important? Sitting at His feet; that was the “good part.” When is the last time you really sat at Jesus’ feet—not just read a chapter of the Bible, said a 30-second prayer, and ran off to do something else—but really sat at His feet?

I usually am so much like Martha and not Mary. Running, running, running and not resting at Jesus’ feet. But lately, the Lord has been helping me every day to start setting my alarm and to get out of bed to spend time with Him—before the rush, before the day begins. And I have to tell you, it’s been so wonderful! God has been showing me so many things that my weary soul has been dying for. Encouragement, peace, hope and joy have started to flood my heart again. Not every day has been a lightning bolt of revelation, but every day has been a blessing—a blessing because I’m finally putting the most important thing in my day first: God’s Word!

I have to give a word of caution though: the enemy hates when we decide to spend more time with Jesus. Don’t expect it to be as “easy as pie” to start doing your devotions every morning. It will take the Holy Spirit’s determination through you! Just be prepared. You’ll be more tired than you’ve ever been when that alarm goes off and you’ll be so tempted to hit the snooze once, twice, or maybe even 20 times. And that’s just the beginning.

You will begin to pray, and before you know it, you’ll be reminded of the lunch date you can’t miss, the shirt you forgot to wash last night, the dirty dishes in the sink, the fact that you have to run to the store later, the realization that you really need to get a good grade on that next test, what color shoes match with the shirt you’re wearing, and the list goes on and on and on. You get the idea.

And let’s not forget that number-one distraction in all of our lives: our cellphones. I’m just going to say something right now: hide it! Put it away when you do your devotions. The world isn’t going to come to an end if you don’t text that person back right away. I literally have to keep my phone in another room so I won’t be distracted, and it has really helped me!

I even find that during the times I’m most faithful to spend time with Jesus, the enemy steps up his attacks and temptations. He seems to throw those fiery darts the second I leave my place of devotions.  So be prepared for attack! But most importantly, be prepared to be blessed, to be changed, and to be spoken to from the Lord! It is so worth it to spend time with Jesus every single day. You won’t regret it, ever! And the more you spend time with Him, the more you will become everything He wants you to be.

I hope we can all stay committed to spending time with our Lord so that we all will be the women He desires us to be!