Chasing the Sunrise

It was still dark when he pulled his black van into the driveway. I poured the coffee into my cup, pressed on the lid and slipped out the door.

My brother and I were becoming sunrise chasers, it seemed. The thought brought a smile to my face. Gratitude filled my heart as I remembered the years of distance and silence between us. Years without hearing his voice or hugging his neck. Until that day.

The day we knew our dad was dying was the day God brought my baby brother back home to us. Calling him with the news, the unfamiliar sound of his voice on the other end all came back to me as we made our way over the bridge towards our now familiar place on the sand.

I’ve heard it said “it’s darkest right before dawn.” The thought came to me as I glanced out the window at the black, clear sky. But as we pulled into the usual parking spot and gathered our coffees, I realized the hint of what’s coming was all around us. The sky was beginning to glow around the edges.

We crossed the boardwalk and stepped onto the sand. The glory of early morning silence, the stars giving way to the light and the waves lapping at the shore in greeting were enough to make me want to clap for God.

I couldn’t help but think how these sunrises were such a beautiful parallel to life and even to the return of the Son Himself. The restored relationship with my brother was a small gift compared to the soon coming Son of God. The trials had seemed so long, so difficult. But the light was dawning.

Our world seems so dark these days, doesn’t it? The night sky seemed dark too.

But the light is beginning to dawn all around us, if we are willing to see it from God’s perspective.

In the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness but denying such power. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

The stars will soon be swallowed by the Light and the Morning Star will appear on the horizon. The King of Glory is coming back for us. These last days, however long they seem, however dark they appear and however painful they are, are brief in the landscape of eternity.

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials...(1 Peter 1:6)

But take heart, dear Christian, we are soon to obtain the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls! (1 Peter 1:9) The blessed Sonrise is coming, as sure as the sunrise came this morning and will come again tomorrow.

Are you ready? Are you in the Word, knowing His heart, pressing in to see from His perspective and growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior? If not, start today! The sunrise is sure and so is the Sonrise.

---

Drop your email below for Tools to Tending your Soul, a guide to cultivating intimacy with God through His Word for yourself.