Have you ever had one of those days when you just didn't want to be away from God?
Not because something terrible was happening.
Not because you were desperately searching for an answer.
But because you could feel Him.
You could feel His presence around you. You could sense Him speaking, guiding, reminding, revealing, and gently pointing things out that you somehow knew you needed to see.
Yesterday was one of those days for me.
I spent so much of the day reading my Bible and talking to God. I wasn't rushing through my quiet time. I wasn't reading just to check something off my list.
I was enjoying Him.
I kept finding verses that seemed to speak directly to whatever was on my heart. Then I'd hear something on the radio, and the DJ would say almost the exact words I needed to hear at that very moment.
Have you ever had a day like that?
A day when you wake up and somehow you can just sense the Holy Spirit leading you?
You notice things you might normally overlook.
You hear something differently.
A Scripture suddenly means something completely different.
A conversation happens at exactly the right time.
A song comes on the radio that feels like it was chosen just for you.
And you begin to realize that maybe God has been speaking all along.
Maybe you're just finally quiet enough to hear Him.
Yesterday, I didn't want that feeling to end.
So when I went to bed last night, I read my Bible again.
Normally, when I'm finished, I put it on my nightstand.
But last night, I did something different.
I tucked my Bible right beside my pillow.
I wanted it close.
I wanted to fall asleep knowing it was right there beside me.
And as I laid there, I thought about how many times I've done something similar during some of the hardest seasons of my life.
Especially when Jasy was in the hospital.
There were so many nights when I would lie on that uncomfortable makeshift hospital bed beside her, reading God's Word and listening to sermons.
There were times when I literally slept with my Bible against my chest.
And I can't fully explain why.
But it brought me comfort.
It felt like protection.
It felt like having something solid to hold onto when everything around me felt uncertain.
Because those hospital days were storms.
And if I'm being completely honest, there were times when I don't know how I would have made it through without Jesus.
The storm could have overtaken me.
But He kept my head above the water.
His Word became my lifeline.
His presence became my peace.
And somehow, even in that hospital room, He reminded me that I wasn’t ever alone.
Yesterday, something else happened.
I had been feeling God leading me to do something, and as I stepped outside, a beautiful yellow-and-black butterfly landed right on my flowers.
And it didn't just fly by.
It stayed.
It fluttered around those flowers almost as if it wanted me to notice it.
I've seen butterflies before.
But there was something about this one.
It caught my attention.
And I couldn't help but wonder if God was reminding me:
“Pay attention. You're exactly where you're supposed to be.”
Later that night, I noticed something else.
A hummingbird was around those same flowers.
At night.
That caught my attention because I don't normally see hummingbirds flying around after dark. So I looked it up online.
And what I learned was that hummingbirds can enter a state of torpor at night—a deep resting state that allows them to conserve energy while they sleep.
And that made me think.
A sleeping hummingbird is still a hummingbird.
It hasn't lost its ability to fly.
It hasn't forgotten what it was created to do.
It's simply resting.
And I began thinking about how many times I've been like that spiritually.
There have been seasons when I've gone through the motions.
I've gotten up.
I've done what needed to be done.
I've taken care of responsibilities.
I've kept moving.
But inside?
I was spiritually asleep.
I wasn't necessarily running from God.
I just wasn't fully awake to what He was doing around me.
And then there are days like yesterday.
Days when something inside you suddenly feels alive again.
You open His Word, and it comes alive.
You pray, and you feel His presence.
You look around, and suddenly you begin noticing the little things.
The butterfly.
The hummingbird.
The perfectly timed words on the radio.
The Scripture that answers the question you've been carrying.
The little reminders that whisper:
“I'm here.”
After I had gone out and done what I felt God was asking me to do, I came back home.
As I pulled into my driveway, that same beautiful butterfly lifted off from those flowers.
But this time, it didn't just flutter away.
It flew.
And I mean it flew higher than I have ever seen a butterfly fly.
It went over the pine trees, almost like a bird taking off into the sky.
And I just sat there thinking about what God had been showing me all day.
It's time to take off.
It's time to take flight.
Maybe that's why He let me notice the butterfly.
Maybe that's why I saw the hummingbird.
Maybe that's why I needed to see the difference between something resting and something fully awake.
Because sometimes God is preparing us in the quiet.
Sometimes He allows us to rest.
Sometimes He lets us be still.
And sometimes He says,
“Okay. It's time to fly.”
Maybe the answer isn't always to try harder.
Maybe sometimes it's simply to stay closer.
Stay in His Word.
Stay in prayer.
Stay quiet long enough to hear Him.
Stay close enough to recognize His voice.
Stay open enough to notice the little things He places right in front of you.
Because God doesn't always speak through something dramatic.
Sometimes He speaks through a verse.
Sometimes through a song.
Sometimes through a stranger.
Sometimes through a sentence on the radio.
Sometimes through a butterfly dancing on a flower.
Sometimes through a hummingbird resting in the darkness.
And sometimes, He simply reminds you that He is still there.
So if you've ever wanted to sleep with your Bible beside you because you didn't want to feel far away from God...
Do it.
If you've ever wanted to hold His Word close because you needed comfort...
Hold it close.
If you've ever been afraid that the closeness you felt with God might disappear...
Stay in His Word.
So tonight, if you need to sleep with your Bible beside your pillow, sleep with it there.
Let His Word be the last thing you hold onto before you close your eyes and the first thing you reach for when you wake.
Stay close.
Stay awake.
Stay in His presence.
And when He tells you it's time...
spread your wings and take flight.