For many people, one of the side effects of depression is the difficulty of getting up and staying out of bed each morning. Sometimes sleep becomes your best friend. When I’m asleep, I don’t have to deal with the noisy negative self-talk and existential angst that can crowd in during waking hours. The problem is, of course, when I do finally wake up the ruminations are still right there. My friend calls this phenomenon ‘morning monsters’.
‘How can I wake up?’ is one challenge to face, but in this article, I want to focus on what happens next, something that might help us get up and face the day ahead. ‘What will I do when I wake up?’
Other Voices
Some start with the news, to find out what is going on in the world—whether leafing through the broadsheets, listening to the clock radio, or scrolling on your phone. The first words you hear as you wake concerns stories of war, murder, rape, famine, fortunes won and lost. Others’ scrolling often has less to do with being informed and more with being anaesthetized. The day begins with a great escape from what is most important to your life and to the world into the realm of gossip, fashion, angst and conspiracy.
Physical exercise (so I’m told) is a possible contender for the best beginning. It takes seriously the fact that we are physical creatures with minds and bodies given by God; and it gets you up and moving. But it is also true that our thoughts are portable, and they tend to travel with us.
Another morning routine contender is meditation. When our thoughts are in a jumble, we can quiet them and learn to be in each moment that God gives. Mindfulness is a great gift, a helpful way to slow down and get perspective, rather than be overwhelmed by anxious thoughts. But over the long term we need to ask, what is it that will inform our knowing and thinking, what is it that will shape our desires?
So, as we start our day, our minds fill up with all manner of outside voices competing for attention, adding to the noise that is already there. As Bob Dylan sings on ‘Idiot Wind’: ‘Your mind is filled with false ideas; images and distorted facts.’
Hearing God’s Voice
It will of course come as no surprise to the average TGCA reader that I am going to suggest starting the day by hearing God’s voice in his written word.[1] When we read the Bible or hear it read, we are hearing the voice of our holy and loving heavenly Father, as he speaks to us about his Son our Saviour and Lord, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Over and over again God’s word rings out loud and true: ‘This is my Son, whom I love; listen to him.’ (Mk 9:7).
As we hear God’s voice we are assured of his forgiveness, cleansing and acceptance in Christ, through his death and resurrection. Whatever other voices might say to us or about us, Christ assures us that despite our struggles with sin and uncertainty; despite our frailty and confusion, his love for us is gentle as it is strong:
[A]s far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103:12–14)
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:31–32)
When we hear God’s voice, we are continually reminded of our true identity and purpose as God’s dearly loved children. Our trials do not disqualify us or make us something less than God’s children. On the contrary, as we suffer with Christ, God reveals our glorious inheritance with him.
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:15–17)
In Praise of Using a Printed Bible
Call me old fashioned, but I find using an old-school print copy of the Bible helpful, especially at the start of the day. Our devices remind us of work and play; it’s easy to get distracted just checking a message or swiping to another page. Multi-tasking is second nature to us all now, so it can feel slow and strange to just focus on the words in front of us. Slowing down and chewing things over, perhaps with a pen and notebook nearby, can be a good change. In the university Christian Union I work with, the undergrads still have paper outlines with the Bible passage printed out at the weekly Bible talks. The implicit encouragement is: ‘phones away during the Bible reading, talk and prayer.’ Some even take notes with an actual pen. Imagine that!
Of course, somebody will reasonably argue that their back-lit low-glow device with notifications turned off is a better option. All this electrickery is a bit much for this poor old Luddite, but if it works for you, go for it!
One Morning at a Time
Himself quoting Scripture, Jesus said, ‘It is written: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ (Matt 4:4; cf. Deut 8:3). For Jesus, the word of his Father governed his entire life and ministry. It was the bread that sustained him. ‘My food … is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work’ (Jn 4:34). Jesus shows us what complete dependance upon God looks like. Only our perfect Saviour kept God’s word perfectly. But the author and perfector of our faith enables us, by the Spirit that he has given us, to trust in him, to daily live by his word.
Bible reading is not merely a method to be mastered or a rule to be kept, but together with our prayers it is the chief expression of our faith in God our Father, and the fuel for our whole life lived for him and for his Son.
Every morning I face the challenge of listening to God first and foremost throughout the day to come. There are so many other words, both inside and outside my head, that fight to capture my thoughts (cf. 2 Cor 10:5). Many of these foster anxiety, fueled by false hopes, distractions, regrets, and fruitless fantasy and nostalgia.
But when I come to God’s word, this is when I wake up. I remember who God is, who I am, what my life means and how I am to live it. God teaches me how to rely on him, and how to pray in accordance with his good will. He makes me ready to talk back to unhelpful thoughts, to engage with people around me and to hear the news of the world with critical engagement. I’m awake! And because Jesus lives, I live:
Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you. (Ephesians 5:14)
[1] Bible and prayer is good at the start of the day and also at the end of the day. In a future piece I hope to talk about the Bible and bedtime.
