Most mornings, I am more like the people of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday than I care to admit.

I wake up early, expecting uninterrupted time with God, my Bible, and coffee. I quietly turn the pages of Scripture in my large chair, blanket over my lap as I sip from my cup of warm, comforting coffee. My heart is perfectly centered. It looks perfect.

But my mornings rarely unfold this way. Instead of peace, I get the chaos of three ginger cats roughhousing around my chair, splattering my coffee all over the walls and floor. People wake up earlier than expected. Or maybe the power goes out.

What I imagined as the meaningful moment turns out to be ordinary and messy.

I’m tempted to look at it as if it’s ruined.

The people of Jerusalem had a false expectation, too. With palm-waving victory at the gates of the city, they were drawn to a King they thought would save them from Rome. The crowd had an image of what rescue looked like.

Jesus didn’t match that image.

He didn’t come with an army, but with average and unarmed men and women.

He didn’t fight His enemies. He washed their feet.

He didn’t conquer Rome, but surrendered Himself to them.

Still, He was the truest rescue they would ever be given.

“The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.” Psalm 16:5

Like the crowd at the gates that cried out “Hosanna!”, the idea of something became my idol rather than Him being my portion. I have built a mental altar of what a meaningful time with Him looks like rather than meeting Him in the mess.

God is not confined to carefully curated conditions. He doesn’t ask us to control our surroundings so that our time with Him is made perfect.

Throughout scripture, we find Him in the wilderness and in the storms just as much as we find Him in gardens and on mountaintops.

“I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.” Psalm 16:8

The people of Jerusalem misunderstood what the Messiah was there to do. They missed the point, and He wept, saying, “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes.” Luke 19:42.

I don’t want to misunderstand my Messiah. I don’t want to miss His peace. I will take the interruptions as an invitation to set Him “always before me”, not just when the coffee is hot, and my house is at rest.

Songs for seasons such as this: