evening...then morning...

God called the light day and the darkness he called night...and there was evening and there was morning..." genesis 1:5

i was reading my bible one day and noticed a huge mistake in scripture... =) everyone knows that morning comes first...and then evening follows...right? but there it was in black and white...genesis 1:5 reads..."and there was evening...and there was morning..."

of course...it was no mistake...somehow...God started with evening...a time of rest...and a day's productivity came out of that...

we live in a culture where rest is often viewed in a negative light...when we work...we work hard...when we play...we play hard...we know how to fill our time with e-mail...activities...carpooling...cleaning...aerobics...and our to-do list...our focus is work all day...and then eventually rest...

have you ever been hit with a situation...whether sickness...or turmoil...or an event that rocks your world? and you sit there and think...i don't have time for this...this "thing" whatever it was...or is in your life...didn't consult with your schedule...there have been events in my life that made me look at and change...or put aside a lot of things i once thought were absolutely vital...just to make it through the day...but one thing that came out of that difficult time was a new list of priorities...the first? to balance my life...

i learned how to climb between the sheets and put aside my worries...to rest my body and my mind...to slow down when life became crazy and weigh what was
important...and what was not...i began to see evening as the first part of my day...from rest...sprang morning...

it's a concept that changed my life...not just physically...but also spiritually...recently in my life...my "things to do" were starting to be sandwiched together...and because of this...my time with my heavenly Father became "evening..." of course there were pertinent things that needed to be done...that required my attention...but spiritual time came first all week...my first priority was to listen to the heart of my Father instead of going over my to-do list...and out of that rest...sprang fruitful energy...i was refreshed and filled by His presence...instead of my efforts...

how often do we run out of steam because we are out of balance? i wish that i could say that i became forever balanced...but i'm not...there are times that i have to slow it down and reconsider my priorities all over again...and if physical rest or spiritual rest has been pushed to last place...i have to put it all on the table and let God help me sort through it so i can put "evening" back where it belongs...

what i am learning...is that when i push Him to last place...i miss out on hearing His voice...when i keep going until i drop...i get all tangled up in my to-do list...i know that life is busy...and i fail...which is why i need to constantly ask Him to help me discern between what is important...and what is not...reorganizing my life...and getting true rest that only comes from Him...