Personhood

Upon the completion of the world God looks down on everything he had made and he said- it is VERY GOOD. Very good- all was it is should be; the cadence and the creation all in step.

And God rested- but at some point it all came undone as sin broke into the world and everything- yes everything began to change. Throughout the next 3 weeks we are going to be taking a deep dive into how the Cadence that God has hard wired into creation impacts us in 3 areas:

Personhood; partnership; passion.

Many of us have probably heard the term Circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm refers to the body's natural 24-hour cycle of physical, mental, and behavioral changes that occur in response to light and darkness God designed this world and all who live in it to operate in a cadence and scientists call this the circadian rhythm. Now, catch this- insider of your brain, just between the 2 optical nerves is your hypothalamus- the hypothalamus is about the size of an almond, and it keeps all the internal functions of your body in time and operating at their proper intervals. The hypothalamus is the part of your brain that tells your digestive tract when it is time to kick into gear; or when it’s time to release melatonin to wind down for sleep. There are more than 20,000 neuron cells in the hypothalamus; that is how detailed God made you.

This circadian rhythm shows us that God has hard wired our physical bodies to function in a certain way; so it would make sense that if these physical bodies have been hard wired a certain way, our spirits likely have been too; right?

Our Morning Cadence

Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

The morning is the beginning of God’s new work of the day. A time for us to see what God is up to in our world today. But if we are honest, not every day starts with rejoicing. Some mornings are a sprint to the coffee pot; you overslept or got a late start; the cadence has been set by hitting the snooze a couple times to try and squeak out a few more minutes. You are already behind and before leaving the house you are already overworked, overanxious and overtired.

Did you know that is in no way shape or form what God wants for you? Listen to what the Bible says about the morning:

Psalm 143:8 “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”

Lamentations 3:22–23 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Psalm 5:3 “O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”

Psalm 90:14 “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

Psalm 59:16 “But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”

Psalm 88:13 “But I, O Lord, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.”

Our mornings are not meant to be a breakneck pace lap for the rest of our chaotic day. Jesus even modeled this for us listen to Mark 1:35 “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

The often quoted question WWJD- well what would Jesus do in the morning? He would rise early and connect with the Father. He would begin his day with a conversation with God.