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August 29, 2013

The Battle of the “SNOOZE” Button



 The prelude of the battle begins when I set the alarm clock each night before I go to bed.  Doing mental calculations of the numbers in reverse… you know what I’m talking about, many of you do the same thing.  

What time do I need to leave? 
How much time do I need to get ready? 

Which now leads to the variables in this daily calculation….
How much time for breakfast? (many days I skip this one)
How much time do I need for devotional time? (unfortunately, I skip this one too many days)

What time do I need to get up?

It’s at this moment the battle lines start to be drawn up.

How many times will I SMACK the “SNOOZE” button, 1 or 2 times? On my alarm clock, each SMACK of the “SNOOZE” button gives my weary bones another 9 minutes of sleep time. (My wife claims this is sometimes the best sleep of the night)

I decide on 1 SMACK for the “SNOOZE” Button on this day (I make plans to actually use this 9 minutes to pray for those in my life, before I get up for the day). 

The calculations are complete.  The battle lines are drawn up on the boarder of “1 SMACK of the SNOOZE ”, and the alarm is set.

But something happens in the night. The enemy infiltrates our camp and filles my head with propaganda that becomes evident the next morning 9 minutes after I’ve SMACKED the “SNOOZE” the first time.  This voice in my head of the enemy says…
Just 9 more minutes, hit the SNOOZE one more time.”

I have to admit, in the time span of only 4 or 5 “beeps” of my alarm, the enemy has given me at least 15 great reasons why I should hit the SNOOZE button a second time.  And before I know It, I’ve SMACKED the SNOOZE a 2nd time. 

9 minutes later, that battle intensifies.  The enemy begins to dig deeper into his bag of tricks.  Now my head is filled with all the things that I can “skip” and make up time for to get the rest I deserve.  And before you know it, I’ve SMACKED the SNOOZE a 3rd time.

At the next sound of the next alarm, the enemy now uses his strongest weapon of all, GUILT.  Now he begins to make me feel guilty for the first 3 times I SMACKED the SNOOZE , and begins to make me feel as though I’ve messed up so bad, I might as well skip going to the meeting and just call in over a conference call…. It’s only a “white lie”. Just blame my tardiness on sickness, or the traffic, or a detour in the road…. And I sadly SMACK the SNOOZE a 4th time. 

When I finally arise for the day, I have this feeling of a grey cloud over me.  I have a combination of anger and resentment both at myself and at my enemy for this happening to me again.  The result of this raging war with the SNOOZE button is having a negative impact on my whole day.

My point of all this.  

How many times have you SMACKED the SNOOZE button on the Holy Spirit in your life?

God has provided the Holy Spirit to guide us toward His one and only Son Jesus.  And for many, we continue to listen to and believe the enemy’s propaganda and we SMACKED the SNOOZE over and over again, avoiding getting up and following Jesus.  This leads to people walking around during the day, feeling like a grey cloud of guilt is over them and it effects all aspects of their lives.

Others have awaken to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and have begun to serve and follow Jesus as one of His disciples, but when the Holy Spirit points them to doing something outside their comfort zone, like getting involved in a small group, becoming more active in their church, forgiving people who have hurt them in the past, adjusting their lifestyles and choices to match those of Jesus, they just “SMACK the SNOOZE” and quite God’s Spirit in them.

If you battle with “SMACKING the SNOOZE”, I’ve got good news.  In a way, God’s Holy Spirit is just like our alarm clocks at home.  As long as the alarm is “ON”, no mater how many times you’ve “SMACKED the SNOOZE”, in just a few minutes, the alarm will go off again.

So, Stop SMACKING the SNOOZE.  Get up and get on with your day.  We’ve all wasted too much of our life, just lying there waiting on the next alarm.   

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