Lest Darkness Overtake You

Sometimes the Holy Spirit has a way of waking me up in the mornings by giving me a good slap in the face. And while a spiritual slap is quite painful in the same way a physical slap would be, it is also a precious reminder of God's sweet love and guidance. I am thankful for holy slaps.

This morning, my time with the Lord centered around one verse:

"Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you." John 12:35

I'm reminded of a day a few weeks ago. I wanted some pictures of Cohen in the backyard. I had planned it all day. The original plan was to take pictures after his nap, but he slept late that afternoon, and by the time he woke up, it was time to cook dinner. So I moved on to plan B.

Plan B: I would go ahead and cook dinner and eat with my husband, but immediately afterwards we would all head outside to take some pictures. But Cohen had a particularly messy fun time enjoying his dinner, and a trip to the bathtub for a good wash-down was necessary.

Plan C consisted of giving the baby a quick bath, dressing him in a cute outfit, and heading to the backyard to finally get my pictures. By the time we made it outside, the baby was cranky and ready to go to bed, the daylight was weak and quickly fading, and I was frustrated. I didn't get the pictures I wanted. I did, however, manage to be ugly toward my precious son and well-meaning husband.

How often I have days like that with the Lord! I am guilty of knowing exactly what God wants me to do, but because it may not be what I want to do, I will put it off. I'm quick to give excuses: it doesn't feel like the right time, I'm not in the right frame of mind, I have other things to take care of, that person is not receptive, and on and on. In reality though, if God calls me to do something, anything, that moment is the absolute perfect time to do it.

Do God's work while you have the light. With every excuse, the sun sinks lower on the horizon until all you're left with is an overpowering darkness and a list of excuses.