Weary

"The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.  He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught." - Isaiah 50:4

Vincent cries from his crib every morning at 6 am.  I grab my glasses off the nightstand, then hastily rush to his room before he wakes sister.  I cradle him in my arms, rock him back to sleep, and place him in his crib for another one to two hours of sleep.  After gently shutting his door, I creep soundlessly to the kitchen to start the coffee pot that will brew amazing black coffee turned cocoa brown with cream.  Liquid comfort.  With a mug in my hands I use the next hour to complete my day's Bible study, pray, and browse blogs.  Although the above Isaiah reference is a prophecy regarding Jesus, in a way I feel that God has awakened me "morning by morning... to listen like one being taught,"  and his alarm clock is Vincent. 

Enter Daylight Savings Time.  Now Vincent awakes at 5 a.m. and has difficulty falling back asleep.  Sophia has been waking up in the night for the last week; the culprit not Daylight Savings but growing pains in her legs.  So between the time change, Vincent's resistance to falling back asleep, and Sophia's night wakings I find myself using any extra time in the morning for sleep. I rob myself of an hour to study God's word, a "word that sustains the weary," in order to sleep.  After an extra hour of snoozing, I will stumble through my day tired but without "Words" encouraging me to persevere. 

When I was younger, and more legalistic in my thinking, I thought it a failure if my "quiet time" occurred at any other point in the day besides morning.  Now I understand that morning is not a law but rather a blessing. 

So this morning, are you weary and in need of comfort?  Mr. Daylight Savings paired with young children leaves me physically weary.  Long hours at the hospital with frequent demands and complicated pecking orders leaves Tony physically and emotionally weary.  There are times I have grown weary with anxious thoughts and unrealistic expectations of myself and others.  Maybe you have felt this way too? 

He knows me.  He knows you.  And nothing is too big or too small to place in His care.  May you live today knowing that you are in the shadow of His hand.

"I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand."

Isaiah 51:16

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I actually wrote this post Thursday night before I knew the 5 Minute Friday prompt:  "Waking Up" over at GypsyMama.  It jives too perfectly not to link up.