Awake At 4 AM

I know it’s been a little while since I’ve written. Just like the ocean, I have ebbs and flows of the creative tide. (That assumes that I have any creativity.) Anyway, I’ve wanted to write something but nothing went from my brain to my fingertips. Maybe I’m just tired. In fact, I’m sure that’s it. I’m tired. Too much going on, too little time to complete the necessary things and too little energy left for anything else. Just to look at the number of books on my nightstand that I’ve started reading will give you a hint about me. If a book doesn’t arrest my attention early it will likely not get finished. There are a number of books that I feel I must read, so I’ll plod on until they’re digested. The others remain mute testimony of my indifference to uninspired prose. Back to being tired. The worst part of being tired is waking up with less than 7 hours of sleep. Getting 8 hours is a pipedream, but 7 are usually sufficient. But lately I’ve been getting about 6, and that’s just not enough. So here I am, awake at 4 AM. Did you even know there was a 4 AM? Generally when I awaken before I have a full night's sleep I wonder if God is calling. He does that you know? He wants to see if you’re serious about listening. In any case, I lie awake for a few moments to get my bearings. Then I listen for things going bump in the night. Oh my, I hope that’s never the case, though occasionally it is. Then I have to go find the ogre, the prowler, or the kid that’s just thirsty. Boy, am I rambling. Must re-focus. Get back on track. Where was I? Oh yeah, awake at 4 AM. There I lay, waiting for some spiritual inspiration to call me to my knees. I whisper a prayer, just in case. Sort of like fishing a new lake. A cast here, a cast there, maybe troll the shore, perchance there may be a lunker nearby. Giving God the chance to call me to the deep. If He doesn’t I roll over and try to return to unconscious bliss. Rarely, however, does that happen. Generally I just lay there waiting for the alarm to sound its unnecessary wail. While I’m laying there I usually ask, “God is that you?” But I don’t speak too loudly just in case He wasn’t. I don’t want to bother Him, you know. If I do, He might ask me to do something like travail for a missionary half way around the world - where it’s 4 PM. And that’s part of the picture. While we lie still, much of the world is very active. But often in our activity we make too much noise to hear God. So He must wake someone who is sleeping or speak to someone engaged in prayer. Since not enough of us partake in the latter, He must employ the former. Aren’t you glad that when you desperately need God, He has means to meet your need? Oh yeah, I know some of you wonder why God even needs us if He truly has the power to handle the situation alone. You can ask Him yourself if you want, but here’s my thought. God wants to use us for the simple reason that we need to know that we are not alone in this Christian walk. We have brothers and sisters throughout the world. They need us, and we need them. You help build my faith. Hopefully, I do the same for you. So when God calls you to your knees in the middle of the night, please answer. It might just be me you’re praying for.