I usually
wake up with the word of God in my heart (‘…and I spoke to you, rising up early
and speaking…’ Jeremiah 7:13). This amazes me all the time; the connection of the
Spirit of God with man even in sleep. It confirms the word of God that ‘He is
always with us.’
I woke up to
a beautiful day, in the city of Bamako in Mali where I am writing this blog. I
rearranged the small table in my hotel room and sat down, facing the window
where I could see the trees, with their leaves gently swaying to the unheard
music in the winds; as if they are dancing in the presence of the Spirit of God
in the winds.
The essence
of the word woke me and got me out of my comfortable bed at 7am. It’s the
weekend and I always look forward to the weekend for a lie-in. Yet, as I turn
to the side for a second round of sleep, the word came fast. As always, I know
if I don’t get up and put the words on paper, it gently flies away never to
return in the same fresh, enlightening way…a great opportunity lost.
I got up and
here I am – putting words on paper. As I
continue on my spiritual journey, daily, I look forward to being taught by the
Holy Spirit as God promised..“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you
should go; I will guide you with My eye” (Psalm 32:8 NKJV). The lesson I have
been going through recently is on discipline.
I have a
vision of the life I want to live, I have plans and goals that I need to
achieve if my vision will become a reality – and it will take hard work. One of
my goals this year is to study the whole bible in a disciplined and consistent
way. I have discovered the reality of the wisdom contained therein, like finding
treasures as you dig in. I am passionate about leadership – the wisdom for
leaders is there; I desire to grow spiritually – what better place than the
Word of Life. So, this year, I made a decision, I will dig for the treasures in
a more disciplined way.
And God has
been using it to teach me how to be
disciplined. I set reading targets for each day (including writing the wisdom
nuggets) but I find myself lagging behind in the first month. I made the
decision that even if I lag behind, I would just have more chapters to read
each day. I must continue on my goal to the end. This goal brings more benefit
to me and the cost of procrastination is too high.
I have
reflected on why I keep missing my targets, and my conclusion is this; laziness
and procrastination. It’s not because I don’t have the time; I could wake up
each day one hour earlier to read the chapters for the day. But I want more
sleep, so I postpone it to later, then later comes, I believe (it’s a mind
thing not necessarily the reality) I am tired right now and will read it later
before I sleep; later comes, I read a few chapters, then I am too sleepy - next
day comes. Of course now I have many more chapters to read.
If not for
the Word that wakes me up each morning till I ‘heard’ the essence of the lesson;
‘A stitch in time saves nine.’ Discipline requires me to do what I need to do ‘right
now’. If you have goals, especially spiritual goals, start on it right now, don’t
procrastinate.
What about
you? What are your goals for this year? How are you doing so far? Is the Holy Spirit
waking you up?
Shalom,
Adeola Akintoye
PS: if this post has encouraged you, do share and encourage someone else.
