Lessons Learned at 3 AM

It’s amazing what sort of things we can learn at 3:00 am!  I can probably tell you all of the programming for channels 4, 7, 13, 21, 29, and 40 for the early morning hours.  I have learned that McKinney Dodge spends a lot of money on advertising.  I have learned that there are lots of reruns.  I have learned to change dirty diapers in the dark.  Aside from these silly things I have learned, I have also learned some very simple, yet truthful things.  During these early morning feedings with my son is when God seems to speak to me.  It’s like He knows He has my full attention.  What else is there to do besides watch those reruns at 3:00 am?  A couple weeks ago as I was changing one of those dirty diapers, God clearly said to me, “Imagine the things you could learn about Me through your son.”  In that moment He gave me three things that my son could teach me about Him.
The first thing that God showed me was that I must have patience in order to take care of my son.  I have to be patient with him at 3:00 am when he’s crying because he’s hungry.  In the same way, God wants us to learn to be patient when it comes to our every day lives.  It seems as though we are always in a hurry to get somewhere or do something.  Even when it comes to our prayers, we often tell God, “I want this to be in your timing” when deep down in our hearts we are saying, “Make this happen now, God.”    Or what about the times when we are “just too tired” to go to church or read our Bibles?  In Isaiah 40:31, God tells us, “Yet those who wait on the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.  Just think how much better our lives would be if we actually waited on the Lord, if we actually trusted Him 100% with our lives.  Psalm 25:5 tells us, “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I Wait all the day.”  My prayer is that I will live out Psalm 25:5 every day.  Psalm 40:1 says, “I waited patiently for the Lord….”  Psalm 130:5 tells us, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits ….”  Just as these verses say, God wants us to be patient.  Patience is a very difficult thing for most of us.  I know it is in my home.  Having a baby means learning new things, and for me, it has meant learning to be patient with Briggs.  In turn, having Briggs has shown me that I need to wait for the Lord; that I need to learn to be patient and wait for Him for everything because He knows what is best for me.
The second thing that God showed me I could learn about Him through my son is love.  No matter how many times our children cry, spit-up, or deprive us of sleep, we still love them and we love them unconditionally.  We loved them before we ever even saw them.  In the same way, God loves us unconditionally, no matter what we do.  No matter how many times we fail Him, He still loves us.  No matter how many times we throw Him aside, He still loves us.  We all know John 3:16 by heart.  God loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to die a cruel death on a cruel cross for each of us.  (We might think that we love our husbands and our children, but do we even know true love?)  Romans 5:8 tells us that, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  It doesn’t matter what we have done in the past, what we do right now, or what we will do in the future, God loved us then, loves us now, and will love us forever.
The last thing that God showed me I could learn about Him through Briggs comes from my favorite verse, Jeremiah 29:11.  Each time I look at Briggs’ sweet little face, I wonder what he will do with his life.  I want only the best for him.  I want him to grow up strong and healthy and to do great things with his life.  God wants the same for us.  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Just as we have plans and desires for our children, God has plans and desires for us.  God can and will order our steps so that we are in His perfect and exact plan if we allow Him to.  God reminds me each time I look into my son’s eyes that he was part of God’s plan for me, and that if I allow Him to, He will direct every step I take.
Lessons learned at 3:00 am…. These are just some of the things that God showed me one early morning.  Maybe He speaks to you in the middle of the night, maybe in the middle of the day.  Whenever it is, be sure to listen closely because He may tell you “great and mighty things which you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3).”