That 'Still, Small, Voice': Caffeine or Jesus?

Caffeine. Ah...that is literally the first thing I do each morning. I grab a fresh brewed latte and sit down on the couch and try to quickly 'wake' myself up. Usually I am watching Kaileigh go directly to her toy box and begin her "busy" day and wondering how someone who only slept for 4-5hrs the night before can be so bubbly without the latte! And here's the thing - my body depends on this every morning and usually more than one is consumed by days end. Yes, "hello, my name is Jordan and I'm a coffee addict. It's been 6 seconds since my last drink." :)

Jesus. Ah.....that is not the first thing I do each morning. I've never been one for the traditional "personal devotional time" every morning, but I have ALWAYS had a daily relationship with the Lord; sometimes it's a prayer, other times it's a scripture, and still other times it's the everyday tasks where He meets me at. But, the past few weeks I haven't had the time of seeking and conversing with Him that I usually do. That 'still, small, voice' hasn't been as clear and obvious. You know, the one where you think to yourself "is that me or is it the caffeine talking?"

I had several experiences this past week where there was no doubt it was the Holy Spirit talking to me and I just chose to ignore that 'voice'. Here I am asking the Lord to show Himself to me and to 'be near to me' as I grieve, process, and move forward and I'm not evening listening! Ha! And afterwards, I literally would shake my head and say, 'yep. you tried to tell me and I just ignored.'

I have been going through a study on A Call for Character by Greg Zoschak. The idea of love relationship with the Father and living in constant communion with Him in the everyday tasks - not just on Sundays and not just at the start or end of our days. What a concept. One that I desire to continually cultivate. This is what I have been deep in thought over the past 4 weeks. What does it mean to have - to cultivate - a love relationship with the Lord. To know who He is and how He speaks to me. It has been a very refreshing and healing time for me. The very fact that fear dissipates and joy overflows by simply cultivating a relationship with the Lord- and if I'd been through more than 2 chapters, I'm sure I'd have more!

So next time you hear that 'still, small, voice', it may not be the 4th latte of the day talking - it could just be your Heavenly Father desiring to converse! Because how nice would it be for my body to 'depend' upon that daily relationship just as it depends on the coffee I immediatly feed it each morning!