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| “Samuel Learning From Eli” John Singleton Copley – 1780 |
I have a skill that my EC covets. Not really a skill – more of a gift. I have the ability to fall asleep almost instantly – as soon as I choose to. I can stay awake late into the night, talking, watching TV, or reading, and I don’t fall asleep, but as soon as it is time to sleep, Boom! I am out like a fainting goat*. I can be snoring before my EC has her requisite army of pillows in formation.
(*if you don’t know what a fainting goat is, click here. You can thank me later.)
It wasn’t always that way. When I was a younger man, I went through patches where I frequently struggled with insomnia, usually fueled by stress and worry. Somehow those things don’t keep me up anymore, but they do wake me up.
Now that was all back story, to help you understand the rest of the post. (Except for the goats, that is just pure, unadulterated fun.)
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Last week, I went to lunch with one of my best friends. He got called to be a bishop a short time ago, and it is fun to talk shop with someone who’s been there.
During the course of the conversation, I asked him, “Is God waking you up early?”
His eyes opened wide with surprise. “How did you know?”
“What time?”
“3:30.”
“For me it was 4:30am. I got an hour more sleep than you do. Ha!”
What were we talking about? We had shared a similar experience as new bishops. (If any other brethren experienced this, let me know) While you might think the worries of being a bishop would keep you from going to sleep, my friend and I both had no problem falling asleep at night, but we were consistently being woken up – really early in the morning. Really early.
I would wake up at exactly the same time every morning: 4:30. It didn’t matter if I went to bed at 10:00pm, or 2:00am. Bing! And I wasn’t too thrilled about it.
Unable to go back to sleep, I would lie in bed and think about the ward, the people that were struggling, what I needed to do, etc.
At first, I resented that I couldn’t go back to sleep. But eventually it dawned on me that this was a very important time for me. I would keep still, so as not to disturb my sweetly sleeping wife, and I would think, and listen. And the Spirit would speak to me. This is the exact same experience my friend is having as he works to serve his ward.
I know this is pretty personal stuff. Why am I telling you this? The first reason is definitely not to let you know that I am super-duper righteous because God would wake me up to chat, but to reaffirm that I know that the Lord cares about his children. Rest assured that God is more than happy to wake a bishop up in the middle of the night to give him counsel, ideas, earnings, or messages on behalf of those in his stewardship.
God loves his children more than he worries about a bishop’s need for sleep
The second reason is more broadly applicable – but first, some scriptures about the boy prophet, from 1 Samuel 3:3-10.
…and Samuel was laid down to sleep;
That the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, Here I am.
And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here I am; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down.
And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here I am; for thous dids’t call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again.
Now Samuel did not know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.
And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thous didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child.
Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down; and it shall be, if he call thee, thou shalt say, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
..and the Lord spoke to him.
Here is the broader point:
The Lord knew when, and how, to get my full attention. At 4:30am, in my quiet house, there were no distractions, no TV, no music, no interference. No computer or cellphone, just me and my thoughts. So that is when he chose to wake me up to get some work done.
Those early morning periods of meditation and inspiration became very sweet to me – but it took me a while to recognize the Lord’s hand in it. Eventually, I became accustomed to waking up at exactly the same time, and then using that time to focus on good things. About 9 months later, when I stopped waking up at 4:30, it was bittersweet.
I can’t help but wonder if the Spirit had to resort to waking me up at 4:30am, because I was just not making myself available enough at other times?
Do I schedule frequent blocks of down time in my life that are large enough to think, and commune with the Spirit?
No.
We all have friends that are so busy that you can rarely even catch them on the phone, or to return a text, right? Imagine what the Spirit must feel like when he is trying to get our attention. It is probably frustrating, because he isn’t usually going to shout, or interrupt what we are doing. He will wait – or stop trying.
For me? The only solution that I have found that works for me is to get up in the morning before everyone else. (Because I feel strongly that I should go to bed the same time as my EC) I need to give myself time to pray, and study the scriptures and just think – and feel after the Spirit. Because once the day kicks off for real, those moments are hard to come by.
President Monson asked the question, “Brethren, are we sufficiently in tune with the Spirit that when the Lord calls, we can hear, as did Samuel, and declare, “Here am I?” (Link)
Honest answer? Sometimes….
Where I served my mission there was a word used to describe chaos, bustle, noise – it was “bulla.” Pronounced “boo-yuh.” There is too much “bulla” in my life, and I need to remember to block out that quiet time so that I am available – just in case the Lord has something he needs to tell me about my family, my calling, my job, or my life.
(I woke up at 5:00am with this post in my head. Please excuse any typos.)
LOL!!!! I had no idea what fainting goats were until now! So funny! Thank you for sharing! (And the rest of the post was good too although it took me a while to get to it because I got distracted by the goats!
My mission president taught us to keep a pen and paper by our beds for this exact reason. I started waking up before my wife to study the scriptures a few weeks ago and have really noticed the difference as I have put myself in a situation in the early morning to hear what I need to know to face the day
As a serving Bishop my current wakeup call from the spirit is 4:15. It took me a year within my service to recognize what was happening as well. I am trying to build the habit of listening better at those times, so that when I am released I can still be available to listen and serve. Thank you for putting into words what my feelings have been.
love this. this happened to me while i was teaching seminary. those precious morning hours became very sacred.
AuntSue
With six kids, quiet peaceful time was hard to find, and I always hit the ground running in the morning with seldom a time for prayer.(yeah, big mistake) For most of that time in my life, the Lord would speak to me in the bathroom during showers, while washing my hands.(it was quiet in there) When the ‘change of life’ came, I started waking up at 4 am without being able to go back to sleep. Then I found that reading the scriptures that early brought great insights and clarity. The Lord will meet us where he can talk with us if we just pay attention.
When I was RS president I was under a lot of stress, so had a hard time sleeping. So usually I would start praying for everyone I could think of. I often would fall asleep while I was praying. And even though I often didn’t say amen, those prayers were answered anyway. 🙂
I have often had that experience, though have never been the Bishop 🙂 But I also found, if I would ask questions at night during my prayers, the answers often came in the morning during the scripture study. And if there was something special the Lord needed me to know, I got the early morning wake up call 🙂
I am glad to know the Lord works with others that way too 🙂
I am a woman so therefore have never been the Bishop. However, I served for several years recently as the ward Primary president. I woke up more nights than not and would worry and think about my sweet primary children. I counted these early morning sessions as a tender mercy from the Lord that I was so grateful for!
On another note, just recently found your blog and I am hooked!
Yes this is me right now! I wondered for weeks what was wrong…I finally had children who slept thought the night and I was waking up at 2:00 am thinking of my counselors and the primary kids. Drove me crazy until I realized its the only time I was alone and without distractions.
I vaguely remember an apostle recently speaking of this early morning revelation time???
Thank you for the post…great reminder to me to make time during the day as well as listen in the middle of the night.
You might be thinking of a talk by Elder Scott. It’s what I kept thinking of while reading this post.
Revelation can also be given in a dream when there is an almost imperceptible transition from sleep to wakefulness. If you strive to capture the content immediately, you can record great detail, but otherwise it fades rapidly. Inspired communication in the night is generally accompanied by a sacred feeling for the entire experience. (2012 April General Conference, How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life, Sat. Afternoon Session – Richard G. Scott)
Ah yes, the Lord’s Night School. That’s when some of the best inspiration comes.
Early morning is my favorite time to think, contemplate, meditate, ponder or whatever. When I stopped getting upset that my sleep was interrupted and listened to what was being said, my day went better and I was able to function. thanks for the reminder!
I wasn’t surprised that the Lord woke you up. Meditation Yogi’s have said that the hour of nectar when you commune with the divine happen between 3-6 am. President David O McKay would wake up at 5 am to meditate and commune with God. I don’f fully understand it, but that’s the time that the Lord has decided is the best time to talk to us. He’ll talk other times, but that’s the best time.
I really liked your post. I want to hear more about why you feel strongly about going to bed at the same time as your EC. I used to do this but then insomnia hit for me and my husband started going to bed earlier. So I’m looking for some motivation.
I’m sure MMM’s reply would be much more profound, but my husband and I decided that one of the ways to keep our marriage strong was to pray together every night, and the best way to ensure that happened was to go to bed together. We noticed this after a period of NOT going to bed together, due to children who needed attention. After that decision, if a child needed my help past our bedtime, (and it had to be a rare occurrence), we had what our family called “tuck Dad into bed” so that my husband and I could have a few minutes together pray and talk. Then he would go to sleep, and I would help with the high school project that was due the next day! Going to bed at the same time has really made a positive difference in our marriage.
AuntSue
Dr Laura always told couples to go to bed together. Without that quiet bonding time, it is easy to drift apart.
So insightful. Having never been a bishop (or a desire to be one – ha), this particular phenomenon is unfamiliar to me. But it has given me pause for thought – are there times when the Spirit is trying to reach me & I’m just too busy to listen? Umm…probably. I think I need to do some personal inventory-taking. Thanks for the heads up.
Excellent post! Most of my most spiritual moments or learning times from the Spirit, is in the early morning hours, out on a run with just me and my thoughts.
Thumbs up.
Wow. Thank you for this post. I am now looking at the wee, small hours in which little people wake me up with new eyes. They always go back to sleep, but I can’t. As a result, I’ve started my scripture study first thing in the morning. Now I’m realizing that this is not random, but maybe the Lord is trying to teach me something.
Thanks, MMM! 🙂