April 9th, 2024
by James Turnes
by James Turnes
Last night I had a dream about Craig Groeschel. I know that seems weird, but hear me out. If you don’t know who Craig is, he is the lead pastor of Life.Church. They have multiple campuses in several locations.
In my dream I was sitting down with him at a table and I began to ask him questions. I am a leader and because he is a high capacity leader I felt I can learn from him (side note, I do learn from him in real life).
I asked, “How do you accomplish so much each day?” As he was taking out his breakfast of oatmeal and setting it on the table he jokingly said, “I start out at 2:30 in the morning.” Then his wife (I presume it was, I didn’t really see her) places a plate of eggs, bacon, toast, down in front of him. To which I exclaimed, “Man eggs too! Where do you find the time?” Then he said something that hit me, “I have found the more video games I played, the more I was drained.” Then I woke up right before my alarm went off.
Sounds like a weird dream, right? Yes, it was. But not to me.
What does Craig Groeschel, breakfast, and video games have to do with my walk with God? Great question. Here is the answer. A lot actually.
Pastors will take up a hobby of sorts in order to relax and destress from their day. In my experience most take up golfing. In the past 15 years of my pastoral role I have only golfed once. Some like to work out in order to relieve stress and be more healthy. I was doing this for awhile but stepped away. Then there is me. I like to play video games. Don’t judge. Now you can see the connection from my dream last night.
I shot out of bed following my dream and I knew it was God trying to get my attention. So, I made a cup of tea and sat down at my laptop and opened my devotional.
Psalm 5:3 – “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”
Alright God, you have my full attention. I know it was you who gave me that dream.
David spent time with God daily. Was he flawed? Yes. But, God used him despite all his flaws. David followed God with all his heart. In fact, God calls David “a man after my own heart.” How could God call a flawed man that? I believe it was because David chose to spend time with God.
David spent time with God in the morning. There is another who had this same type of routine and did AMAZING things! His name was/is Jesus.
Mark 1:35 – “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.”
There is just something about getting up before the world does and connecting with God. David did it. Jesus did it. And I believe God desires us to do it as well. I know not everyone is a morning person, but what if we just push through that? What if we make our bodies get up anyways? What if we put down the controllers late and night and go to bed a little bit earlier so we can get up a little bit earlier and connect with God?
I am not saying you’re a bad Christian if you don’t. But what if we connected with God before the world connects with us through people, the news, and whatever else comes our way today? I’d say we will have a better outlook on the day if we connect with God first.
“So many of us go by our temporary feelings. We don’t follow the path that God lays before us because we don’t feel like it. We allow our attitude and our feelings to dictate our day, when we should be dictating our attitude and our feelings!” - David Villa
The only way to make sure we follow the path God has for us for the day is to connect with Him that day.
Confession time. I had gotten out of the routine of getting up early to connect with God. I am not saying I didn’t speak to God or didn’t read my Bible. What kind of pastor does that? A lazy one. But I have found myself wore down more than usual and not having the right attitude that I should in some areas since I stepped out my routine.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
So, here I am in the early morning, everyone is asleep (except my 3 cats and dog) connecting with God and sharing this word He gave to me this morning.
If you find yourself wore down or having a bad attitude lately, I want to challenge you to set your alarm before anyone gets up and just connect with God. Try it for a couple of days. I know that if you don’t see a difference, those around you will.
What are your thoughts? Have you been through anything like this? Pull a seat up at the table and share your experience below in the comment. If this has blessed you in any way, share it on social media. Who knows, it just might help someone.
In my dream I was sitting down with him at a table and I began to ask him questions. I am a leader and because he is a high capacity leader I felt I can learn from him (side note, I do learn from him in real life).
I asked, “How do you accomplish so much each day?” As he was taking out his breakfast of oatmeal and setting it on the table he jokingly said, “I start out at 2:30 in the morning.” Then his wife (I presume it was, I didn’t really see her) places a plate of eggs, bacon, toast, down in front of him. To which I exclaimed, “Man eggs too! Where do you find the time?” Then he said something that hit me, “I have found the more video games I played, the more I was drained.” Then I woke up right before my alarm went off.
Sounds like a weird dream, right? Yes, it was. But not to me.
What does Craig Groeschel, breakfast, and video games have to do with my walk with God? Great question. Here is the answer. A lot actually.
Pastors will take up a hobby of sorts in order to relax and destress from their day. In my experience most take up golfing. In the past 15 years of my pastoral role I have only golfed once. Some like to work out in order to relieve stress and be more healthy. I was doing this for awhile but stepped away. Then there is me. I like to play video games. Don’t judge. Now you can see the connection from my dream last night.
I shot out of bed following my dream and I knew it was God trying to get my attention. So, I made a cup of tea and sat down at my laptop and opened my devotional.
Psalm 5:3 – “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”
Alright God, you have my full attention. I know it was you who gave me that dream.
David spent time with God daily. Was he flawed? Yes. But, God used him despite all his flaws. David followed God with all his heart. In fact, God calls David “a man after my own heart.” How could God call a flawed man that? I believe it was because David chose to spend time with God.
- Even when he didn’t feel like it
- Even if he was tired
- Even if he had a long day the day before
- Even if he went to bed late
David spent time with God in the morning. There is another who had this same type of routine and did AMAZING things! His name was/is Jesus.
Mark 1:35 – “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.”
There is just something about getting up before the world does and connecting with God. David did it. Jesus did it. And I believe God desires us to do it as well. I know not everyone is a morning person, but what if we just push through that? What if we make our bodies get up anyways? What if we put down the controllers late and night and go to bed a little bit earlier so we can get up a little bit earlier and connect with God?
I am not saying you’re a bad Christian if you don’t. But what if we connected with God before the world connects with us through people, the news, and whatever else comes our way today? I’d say we will have a better outlook on the day if we connect with God first.
“So many of us go by our temporary feelings. We don’t follow the path that God lays before us because we don’t feel like it. We allow our attitude and our feelings to dictate our day, when we should be dictating our attitude and our feelings!” - David Villa
The only way to make sure we follow the path God has for us for the day is to connect with Him that day.
Confession time. I had gotten out of the routine of getting up early to connect with God. I am not saying I didn’t speak to God or didn’t read my Bible. What kind of pastor does that? A lazy one. But I have found myself wore down more than usual and not having the right attitude that I should in some areas since I stepped out my routine.
Coincidence? I don’t think so.
So, here I am in the early morning, everyone is asleep (except my 3 cats and dog) connecting with God and sharing this word He gave to me this morning.
If you find yourself wore down or having a bad attitude lately, I want to challenge you to set your alarm before anyone gets up and just connect with God. Try it for a couple of days. I know that if you don’t see a difference, those around you will.
What are your thoughts? Have you been through anything like this? Pull a seat up at the table and share your experience below in the comment. If this has blessed you in any way, share it on social media. Who knows, it just might help someone.
Posted in Spiritual Growth
2 Comments
Pastor James, this hits on so many levels.
Many years ago I started on my journey with God. I knew He wanted all of me. He wants all of each one of us. Since we are individuals, that will look different for each one, but the outcome is the same…… He wants all of us. Every part of our thoughts, feelings, emotions, ideas, motives, etc.
In order for us to be friends with Jesus we must take time to develop our relationship with Him.
Very early mornings are perfect…… everything is quiet, there are no distractions, I can talk to Him and hear Him as He speaks to me.
Several months ago I realized that I would sit down with my coffee and then grab my phone to check emails. Wow, did I get convicted! I had to stop doing that.
I need and want to put God first, literally, in every area of my life, so I make sure that I spend time talking and listening to Him every early morning before the day gets busy.
This is great Connie! I love the early mornings. No distractions. No outside noise. There is just something about getting up early with Jesus! Keep on going.