Do you know that most people don’t make their beds? I know this because of their responses when I tell them, “Make your bed”.
You’re right that it’s an odd subject for biblical counseling, but I tell people this frequently. And yes, I usually get the same response...eyebrows raised or slight furrowing of the brow or narrowing of the eyes.
Make my bed?
(I can see them thinking it like it is printed on their foreheads)
With all that I am facing, I can barely get out of bed, let alone worry about making it...what’s that got to do with anything?
I hear you. Here’s why I say it. Much as we would like to most days, we do not live our lives out of sight. Try as we might to hide, or disguise, or withdraw, we are created by God, loved by God, and pursued by God, and SO, we live our entire lives in the real and active presence of God. It’s his universe after all. He doesn’t show up when we say “Dear God” or “Our father” or when we bow for grace before a meal. He’s with you in the dark of dawn before your feet hit the floor, with you when you fall the first or fiftieth time before breakfast, and he’s with you every other moment, when you cry and laugh and love and fail to love. Here’s how I know it.
Because he created you in his image and for his purpose. Because he came to earth to live and die for the sake of making a way to be with you forever. Because he is the omnipresent Spirit of the Church and because he will not relent in his personal and loving mission until all the saints are gathered in. Because he's a promise-keeper and his most oft-repeated promise is, "I am with you".
So, when you wake and stare anxiously at the clock or your phone or the ceiling, he’s there. When your palms begin to sweat, when your guts turn over, and when your bed is suddenly cold as you consider what awaits you, he’s there. When you decide to abandon yourself to the day’s insanity OR instead consider what might really happen if you just slid down under your blanket for another hour or 12, he is really there.
And so...As a first, intentional, faithful act of the day, make your bed. As an act of worshiping the God who is there, make your bed. As a humble receiving of the grace that God has given you for this particular day, make your bed. As a faithful stewarding of what God has given you (bed, home, strength, health, work, family, etc), make your bed.
Make your bed as an acknowledgment that though no one else will lay eyes on your bed, God sees you, and you live in the reality of God’s active presence and in the reality of his very real love, grace, and purpose which is toward you and for you FOREVER in the person of Jesus Christ.
Because all this (and far more) is TRUE, make your bed.
And have a good cup of coffee for pete’s sake. Life’s too short for bad coffee. But that's another post.