The Hidden Beauty in Every Sunrise

Are you a sunrise or sunset person?

My mama jokes that sunsets are just sunrises backwards, thus she doesn't have to wake early. *wink* I'm a night-owl too, so sometimes I agree with that motto.

But last winter as the sunrises awoke late enough for this girl to see them, I crawled out of bed to gasp in the frigid air, wrap a bathrobe around me, and shivering, watch the sun wake up every morning for a week. I took a picture of every sunrise, trying to capture the color and beauty like a child coloring a picture with bulky crayons and never truly encapsulating it.

Yet it still caught something beautiful that I look at and remember. From the vibrant, peachy light to gentle blues dabbled in clouds or even grey mornings littered with snow, the sunrises were worth every lost minute of sleep.

I learned to love the sunrise.

Today as I snuggled on the porch to see the sun awaken, the sky was cloudy grey. Instead, I watched the trees turning to fall hues and flipped open my Bible.

In (the heavens) He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

- Psalm 19:4-5 

The whisper:

the sunrise is like Jesus.

Because He made a promise that one day soon, He will return. He will be like a bridegroom coming to His Bride whom He cherishes and is waiting for! Like the sun piercing the earth at dawn, the color indescribable, the texture and light and faithfulness of every single morning, Jesus is.

I imagine Him with light beyond our imagination, the skies illuminated in rainbows of color because their Maker is finally here!

And I wonder if in the meantime, He eagerly waits, almost restlessly perhaps, because He sees the enemy coming against us. Maybe He beams proudly as we wait in loyalty to Him, as His Bride presses on with a fierce love that holds on despite tempest winds. His Spirit is in her, and she presses on.

So every morning, the sun rises. Sometimes, smokey clouds block out its light, but it continues to rise, circuit from one end of the sky to the other, and set once again.

And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

Its rising is from one end of heaven,

And its circuit to the other end;

- Psalm 19:5-6 

I want to live every moment in delight of the sunrise.

Delighting in the fact that my Best Friend, the One who knows all of me and still loves, guides, corrects, forgives me, He is returning for me like a bridegroom!

Every sunrise is a reminder of His sweet faithfulness.

Jesus pursues us, and as we dig into His Word and spend time with Him, we can fall hopelessly in love with this God who made us. He has done that for me, and I absolutely can't wait for Him to return so that we can live together in a perfect earth with no barriers in between the pure friendship man and God was always intended to savor!

I can't wait to be with Him.

So that's what these verses mean to me. That's why as I look at these seven photos of seven mornings in a row--sunrises of intense, dazzling beauty and ones hidden behind snowy clouds--I'm reminded that He is faithful, and His promises are true.

You have permission to laugh, smile, giggle, joy, sing, dance in the awesomeness that if you trust fully in Jesus' finished work, you are adopted into His Kingdom and have an awesome, beautiful, glorious inheritance!

(My poetic heart likes to picture it as Him bringing His castle to His New Earth and us getting to reign with Him as princes and princesses, rewarding us with treasures! How awesome is that?!)

There's nothing sweeter than following Jesus, my friend.

The sun will continue to rise and fall every day as a faithful pointer to its Maker. And I pray we are found as a Bride waiting for her Groom: eagerly expectant, obedient, worshipping because we love Him so much and simply cannot wait to be with Him forever.

Even if I don't wake early enough for every sunrise, *laughs* I'll keep chasing them, trying to capture beauty in words like a child scribbling with oversized crayons, and living in praise!

(psst--here's a song I'm praising God with today on this theme!)

 

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness. 

- Lamentations 3:22-23

 

~♥~

Baptism || When Jesus Calls Me to Die

I was baptized when I was eight years old, and I remember three things:

// my daddy baptized me in sweetly warm water

// a beautiful worship song played

// and I simply did it because I loved Jesus, and He told us to obey

Little Hosanna had so much she didn't understand. She didn't know what baptism represented or the beauty of it, but she knew the God she loved said go, so she did.

I wouldn't change that. But this week as a friend shared about their upcoming baptism, I realized how little I knew. So I dove into a word study and found a core truth that's so hard and beautiful with which I can do nothing more than lift to Jesus and whisper, "help me."

I learned,

 

I'm in love with Jesus more than anything in this world, and it's the most wonderful thing I've discovered in life. And yet as I follow Him, He whispers this:

come and die.

I want to balk and run from it, grab my dreams and hopes and say, "didn't You give these to me? Why do I have to surrender them again and again?"

come and die.

Baptism is joining Jesus in that death.

I read of the Israelites, riding victoriously from Egypt after they escaped their captors, but then they came to the water. There was a turning point.

They were God's people! They were chosen, and God Himself led them by a fire by night and a cloud by day!

But until they walked through that water, they weren't free. The Egyptians were coming, and unless their God intervened, they'd forever be slaves.

So He did. God let them pass through the waters on dry ground as a symbol of baptism, and on the other side, they found freedom and life and joy and a future hope. Their promised land awaited!

Jesus asks me: am I willing?

Am I willing to pass through the waters and let myself die to find freedom when I rise? Am I willing to let go of my dreams and hopes to embrace His?

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Now are your ways My ways," says the LORD.

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts."

- Isaiah 55:8-9

The Bible continues describing the beauty of baptism throughout its pages, and I could list references to keep you busy for hours. *wink* But what I read is that baptism comes from a heart of repentance. It's an important part of entering the family of God. And the Holy Spirit is a special part of it all (which is awesome, 'cuz it means God literally gets to live in us as a Helper!).

As Jesus died, when we're baptized under the water, we join in His death, and as He rose, we rise out of the water into a new life with Him. What's amazing is that when He returns to bring His Kingdom, we'll rise again with new physical bodies and inherit the Kingdom with Him!

But today, I'm left with a decision: is Jesus worth it?

Is He worth giving everything for?

And yet being a follower of Jesus isn't a slavery where He steals what we love to grasp all the glory for Himself. He's a transcendent God who treasures His people and, knowing what's best for them, leads them in the way they should go. We give Him glory because that, in turn, fills us with the deepest satisfaction and joy we could ever experience!

I've had no joy greater than the joy of knowing Him.

He is a God of peace and love and all that's good, and He desires us to know Him intimately, to converse with Him, to live life with Him.

But it starts with a decision.

Will I come and die so that something greater might live?

...unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

- John 12:24-26

The One we follow gave His very life, suffering a terrible and ghastly death, and,

...a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.

- John 13:16

 

And so I surrender to Jesus.

I accept that whatever He says goes. That His plan is always best. That He may give and take away as He sees fit, and I will stand before Him and worship.

It's not always easy to walk through the waters, but it is the most beautiful and fulfilling calling. So I'll wipe away tears and skip through dry ground.

I challenge you to sit with the Lord and open your heart to the One who calls you "beloved." Surrender to Him, cry to Him, love Him, and be loved by Him.

It's so sweet to be loved by Jesus.

What is your baptism story? Are there waters you're walking through? Let's share below!

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.

- Isaiah 43:2

 

 

 

 

~♥~

 

May You Be Found Faithful

Everyone has a job; what's yours?

I challenge you to pause and answer that question. What is your job?

I don't merely mean the job that pays your salary or what you answer when someone asks, "what have you been up to?". Not the place you grudgingly drive to every weekday because you have to. Because we have those tasks we do, but they aren't who we are.

I wonder what is your God-given job? What is the passion or dream or simple work He put into your hands and whispers, "go for it"? 

What were you created to do that God is calling you to be faithful in?

That's your job.

Last month, I found myself wrapping up one of my Farm Tales drafts and setting it aside as my illustrator continued her work, and I felt my arms wide open as I whispered, "God, what's next? What do you want me to jump into?"

He didn't answer immediately. But the next day, a dear friend sat chatting with me, and she asked about my writing projects, saying, "So what does your writing look like? Do you write every day?"

I laughed as I told her I might not even write every week, explaining it away with excuses about how busy I was with siblings, my paid job, and the other tasks on my schedule.

But she smiled. "If this is a job God gave you, shouldn't it be a priority?"

It hit me.

I'd say my job is to go to work at the music store, serve customers, keep things clean and organized, and go home. Or I might say my job is being a big sister and being faithful at home.

And those are my jobs. I work at them with all my heart, seek to do them well every single week.

But if God gave me a specific job, shouldn't that be just as important as driving to work every work day?

Shouldn't I dive in headfirst, be passionate, devote myself to finishing this calling He set before me?

So I did. July was a lovely month of pursuing the calling God set before me, and it was adorned with answered prayers and sweet moments with God as we wrote and edited and completed the work He set before me. I realized again why I love being a writer. I joy-ed through my work.

And as I did so, He whispered the reason why we do every job He sets before us:

...continually set your hearts, before all else, on His Kingdom and the salvation that comes from Him...

- Matthew 6:33

It's not just doing the thing we're good at. It's the fact that Jesus is going to return with His Kingdom, establish a New Earth, and we get to live with Him forever! It's the craziness that He offers forgiveness to every heart who humbles themselves before Him.

My job as a writer is to set my own heart on His Kingdom and create words that, I pray, draw others to His salvation.

May that be the reason I do every single job. May I write faithfully, heart set on His Kingdom. As I serve customers and love siblings and mop the kitchen and chat with friends, may that be the ultimate purpose behind it all:

seek first the Kingdom.

If the job is incredibly hard or if it's simply mundane.

Friend, may you be found faithful in your roles. If you run a household and wash laundry and wipe snotty noses, may it be a joyful sacrifice where you meet Jesus in the chaos. If you're a creator who uses your fingers to write stories, carve wood, paint masterpieces, send snail mail, lift others up with music, may you do it for and with our Savior. If you drive to work or do school, may it be with all your heart as for the Lord.

I challenge you to pause, sit with Jesus, and seek His heart. He is the best friend you could ever have, and He wants to live life with you. Ask Him what His jobs for you are, but more, ask Him how you can seek first His Kingdom.

Not just work harder. Not be a better person.

It's a relationship with a God who covers you with His love, who wants to live life with you, who wants to use you to impact this world!

(it's pretty exciting!)

Press on sister. Run the race brother. May we be found faithful when He returns with His Kingdom. ♥

What jobs has God set before you to be faithful in? Let's chat below!

Whatever work you do, it is from the heart that you are to do it, as though you were serving the Lord and not mere men, knowing that it is the Lord from whom you will receive the inheritance as your reward. It is the Lord, the Messiah, to whom you are truly rendering your service.

- Colossians 3:23-24

~♥~