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From the desk of …
by Terry Griffin, Lt. Colonel –
I classify the world into two distinct groups: morning people and everyone else. Morning people are the ones you see bouncing around cheerily while the rest of us are trying to pry our eyes open. (Yes, I did just give away where I stand in the groupings.) For some reason, God chose to put me with the majority (a statistical assumption on my part) who I believe are not morning people. We are the ones who come alive around noon (unless going fishing) and are at our best between 6 p.m. and midnight.
Unfortunately, being a late in the day bloomer has caused me some guilt. I grew up hearing adages like, “The early bird catches the worm,” or “Early to bed, early to rise, makes one healthy, wealthy and wise.” To add to my guilt are the reminders from Scripture about morning; for example, Psalm 5:3, “My voice you shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to you, and I will look up.”
Lest you morning people become too prideful, let me share a warning from the Bible. Lucifer was a morning person and look what happened to him. Isaiah 14:12 states, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground.” Now don’t get too excited and think I am judging you for being morning people, nor am I comparing being a morning person with Lucifer. I have noted, however, a bit of pride in “morning people” and it is this “I’m at the office before the sun rises, and you’re not” attitude that causes me to issue this warning, “Pride goes before a fall.”
I do take comfort in Genesis 1:3-5, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from darkness. God called the light ‘day’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’” Now notice the order in the next line: “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” Perhaps in God’s order of time, a day begins with evening and ends with the morning. If that’s the case, then my body clock is right on and I can believe that the promises of Scripture and the blessing of God are for all people. and those of us who function best in the evening are working as God planned, at the beginning of the day. Psalm 55:17 reinforces this concept, “Evening, morning and noon, (notice the order) I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.”
At this point in the article, if you are still reading, you are probably saying, “This guy is trying to defend being lazy and sleeping in late.” Not so. I am simply one of those souls who must function in a morning person’s world and recognize that God’s blessings are available to all, any time of day.
All of this came to my mind as I participated in the territory’s planning for the annual Commissioning of cadets and the events that support this sacred time. This year’s theme is Vision for Mission and it will be carried through the weekend with a variety of events for people of all ages.
Friday evening will feature the Christian recording artist, Sara Groves, who recently received the Contemporary Christian Music’s Album of the Year Award for 2005. She is a gifted singer and songwriter and we look forward to hearing her message through music. One of her songs is based on my favorite hymn by Thomas Chishom, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” focusing on the promises of Lamentations 3:22-23, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassion’s never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
He’s Always Been Faithful (Sara Groves, 2000)
Morning by morning I wake up to find
The power and comfort of God’s hand in mine,
Season by season I watch Him amazed,
In awe of the myst’ry of His perfect ways.
All I have need of His hand will provide.
He’s always been faithful to me.
And so I concede to the “morning people” the truth of this text, “Morning by morning I wake up to find the power and comfort of God’s hand in mine.” Even in my “don’t talk to me until 10 a.m.” state, I know that God is present and faithful to those of us who function best between the mornings.
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