The ghoulish sound from coyotes atop White Oak Mountain in North Georgia. An owl coos in a cypress pine tree right outside our bedroom window after 3:30 in the a.m. A train moans as it runs parallel with Ringgold/Ooltewah road around four a.m. followed by howling in the garage below from our two Labrador Retrievers, who hear a siren before anyone else.

For some reason, I look at the bright orange numbers on the digital clock on my wife’s nightstand each time I hear a different noise. Then I force my eyes to close. However, those collective sounds are more than enough to keep me from sleeping.  

Even if those cries take the night off, my age also keeps sleep from visiting at least once or twice a week. But I welcome them all. They wake me up to go downstairs with a hot cup of coffee, to what I call—the secret place.

The house is quiet. It’s still dark outside. Our den is lit by one lamp. The rest of the family is still asleep. After I’ve drunk about a half a cup, I open my journal and start emptying myself. After a while, I go back upstairs for a second cup. I return and read a selection from a devotional I’m in to or verses in the scriptures or both.

After transferring a quote or a verse from either book to my journal, I turn to the back where I look over specific prayer requests from others, and issues pertaining to my family and me. I then lift those requests to the living God before I start my day.

“God, please hear every letter of every word, of every phrase, of every sentence, of every paragraph, from the pages of my heart. God, may your will be done, not mine. God, please go far beyond what I ask, think, or dream. God, you own the cattle on a thousand hills. Your resources are limitless!”

I cherish those early morning hours, but not everyone. My wife loves to sit up in our bed and read late at night. I’m gone a few minutes after I hit the pillow, but morning is the best time for me to listen for God’s voice in the stillness and the quiet. What time is yours?

Regardless of the hour, choosing to get alone with God is the point. Life will always be noisy. Besides Psalm 23, one of the most quoted Psalms is, “Be still and know that I am God.” (46:10a)

David must have been a morning person. “Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” (Psalm 5:3) 

Is God a morning person? The psalmist continues, “He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, He who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord Himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.” (Psalm 121: 3-5)

No, God is both a morning and evening person. Thank God! If He shut us off for one second where would we be? God is omnipresent, meaning He’s everywhere at the same time. Listen to Jeremiah. “Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord.” (23:24)

Yes, we all can run, but no one (including yourself) can hide from God. Why not stop the hide and seek charade and seek the living God whenever you choose to seek Him from the secret place of your heart.

pictures courtesy of pexels.com except pic of book cover-“Nelson & his Nikon”