The Sunrise.
I've always been a night person. Those who know me best can attest to the fact I saw more sunrises from the staying up standpoint than the waking up standpoint. When I stopped working second shift, I began to notice sunrises. Indiana has a surprising number of them in spite of winter seeming like a never-ending gray, contrast-less 6 month block of time. You have to understand I am coming from the perspective of someone who lived most of his life in Sunny Arizona! It was indeed sunny.
Over the past two years or so, I have felt the increasing need to have a quiet time with the Lord in the morning before everyone gets up, and that is when I realized I didn't have to stay up late to see the sunrise. I could catch it from the other end. Here I had found a new beginning that showed itself in divine radiance on a surprising number of mornings. Where we live is flat and relatively featureless. Except that golden time when the dawn is breaking. It was an unbelievable revelation to me that in spite of my problems, my difficulties, my self-inflicted trials and those that were thrust upon me, the sun still rises.
This sets me thinking of the zeal which attached itself to me like nothing I had ever experienced. That moment in which I obtained assurance of my salvation 17 years ago. I was quickly to work, everything was fresh and new. I had great plans for the days to come. I laid out a path of prayer, bible study, attending college for ministry and becoming a youth pastor. Much zeal. Many plans still yet unfulfilled. The Son had just risen in my heart. All was new.
This sets me thinking of the zeal which attached itself to me like nothing I had ever experienced. That moment in which I obtained assurance of my salvation 17 years ago. I was quickly to work, everything was fresh and new. I had great plans for the days to come. I laid out a path of prayer, bible study, attending college for ministry and becoming a youth pastor. Much zeal. Many plans still yet unfulfilled. The Son had just risen in my heart. All was new.
There was never a night or a problem that could defeat sunrise or hope - Sir Bernard Williams
More sharply, this sets me thinking about that new and glorious dawn when Christ returns. He is coming from the east, so it does me well to watch this direction every morning. When I preach, I like to have windows in the eastern side of the auditorium in which I am speaking. I fully expect Christ to return when I'm in the pulpit for some reason. Often, I'll point this out when I'm preaching. Always cognizant of the east from whence my Savior will return.
Matthew_24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
The Midday.
Sandwiched between the sunrise and the sunset, you will find the middle of the day. The sun is high (if it is not obscured by clouds), there is work to be done and the only time for contemplation might be under the shade of a tree while resting from your labors. This is a very productive time for the diligent and a frustrating time for the lazy. The middle of the day seems to move quickly when you are involved in labor that has a clear direction, accomplishes something and you have co-laborers who are pleasant to be around. Sometimes the work can be frustratingly slow if all of those conditions are not met or if laziness or dissatisfaction with the labor sets in. I am currently in this part of the day, having as much daylight behind me as I have before me. I guess that is why the beauty is often obscured. Because I'm in the midst of it.
To the one who is in the morning of life, everything midday seems exciting and liberating. It truly must be. The only cages we find ourselves in are those we construct ourselves or those that were constructed for us that we voluntarily enter. In our Christian walks and ministries (not mutually exclusive), this is when we hit our stride. If we ever do. Everything is bright and challenging. Stuff is happening. Building is going on. Our wisdom starts gaining on our knowledge, not quite overtaking it at this point.
This is the part of the race where focus and energy are vital. We should be established enough and exercised enough as Christians to endure.
This is the part of the race where focus and energy are vital. We should be established enough and exercised enough as Christians to endure.
Proverbs 24:27 Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
The Sunset.
The sunset is the superstar of the natural world. Showy. Varied. Ever-changing. It is almost a gamble to watch a sunset. A gamble of your time. Then, when the angle of the rapidly descending sun hits the underside of the cloud bank in just the right way, fireworks go off. It begins as a bit of a color change. A lengthening of the rays of the sun in reference to the surface of the earth. A deepening of the shadows. Subtle changes. Often, we miss the initial stages because we are laboring straight through them. We might be aware our bodies are getting tired. We might think about how nice it will be to be home, sitting in our favorite chair, sipping sweet tea. Surrounded by our family. Enjoying the fruits of our labor. Then the western sky explodes in painted beauty, the strokes of an invisible brush. A painting of light.
I've always enjoyed the sunsets, as I've always enjoyed Autumn. Something about the oranges, golds, and reds strikes a chord with me. I'm enraptured by the scenes of leaves falling and suns setting. There is great beauty to be found in the waning of the day or the year or a lifetime. The bible has much to say about the night, when our work has ceased, we've put our tools away, we've retired for the evening. "Work for the night is coming!" When man's work is done. There is a time for labor, but there is also a time for rest. There is a lack of justice that in our day the elderly and experienced are marginalized and hidden. When wisdom has finally exceeded knowledge, our elderly are often warehoused in "assisted living" or "nursing homes" when they ought to be out in society warning and teaching and encouraging.
Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky - Rabindranath Tagore
John 9:4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Do we fear the night? Tomorrow will take care of itself. Do we fret at our day ending? The night is the only place we will find total rest in Christ, body, spirit and soul.
When we see that brilliant star creeping ever west, the clouds exploding in visual exclamations of praise to the One that created such a system of beauty and order, we should rejoice. There's a new day coming.
When we see that brilliant star creeping ever west, the clouds exploding in visual exclamations of praise to the One that created such a system of beauty and order, we should rejoice. There's a new day coming.
Hebrews 4:8-11 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
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