I’m not a morning person at all. I even wrote a poem back in middle school about how much I hate getting up in the morning. I can still remember the first few lines:

“I hate getting up in the morning,
I’m always so sound asleep.
Then 7 a.m. comes without warning,
And my alarm makes an awful beep.”

Needless to say, I was a really good writer back in middle school. But the reason I bring this up is because it’s after midnight, and all I can think about is how I have to get up at 5:15 a.m. tomorrow for the second morning in a row to give a friend a ride to work.

When my alarm went off this morning, my first instinct was to be really angry. It was dark and cold in my bedroom, I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and the last thing I wanted to do was venture out in the freezing weather.

Then I remembered a verse my pastor had shared with me the previous evening. Romans 8:5-8: “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”

I thought about how my sinful nature desired to be angry at that moment and if I chose to set my mind on that desire, it would probably ruin the rest of my day and make it impossible to please God. But if I set my mind on the things the Spirit desires—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—I would enjoy life and peace. I made a conscious decision to set my mind on the things of the Spirit and not on my current circumstances, and I asked God to give me grace, a good attitude, and a thankful heart.

I ended up having a great morning. After dropping my friend off at work, I enjoyed a little Caribou coffee and some extra time reading the Bible. Then I got to witness a sunrise I wouldn’t have seen if I had been asleep. When I got to work, I was wide awake and ready for the day.

Today, God really showed me how powerful the mind is and what an impact the things we choose to think about can have on our lives. But if you’ll excuse me, right now I’m choosing to go to bed.