Sunrise on the property of Youth With A Mission, Minneapolis, where The Nest Maternity Home is located.
We’ve all seen the sun rise, but only a few of us are completely mesmerized by it. Well, I am, and this week I looked out the window while making my coffee and saw that the horizon was beginning to turn a majestic red-orange color. My soul leapt and drew me outside. Pulling on warmer pants and my winter jacket, I grabbed a cup of coffee and went to greet the sun.
As I sat, I found myself caught up in this feeling. What was it? I had a hard time coming up with words to describe it, but I was experiencing a type of tension. It was a tension that had me hoping and waiting, yet also caused me to feel stuck in that very moment and second.
So I asked God; “Why?”.
This is what He shared with me:
Many of us live our entire lives in this moment of the sunrise; we see the light coming – we have proof that the sun will soon appear, but we haven’t yet seen the big, blinding yellow ball with our own eyes.
We are walking through life constantly yearning for the future. Next week, next month, next year…waiting until our desires come to pass. Hardships come and go, and for many of us we slowly begin to see the sun rise on the horizon – it’s like we can almost imagine the bright rays entering our lives although they aren’t yet a reality.
Tension.
There is no way to will the sun to rise faster (even if you really need to go get ready for the day, but also want to see the sunrise in completion).
But, we can enjoy every single changing moment as the hues and shadows play with each other. Just like the sunrise, our lives are ever-changing. They are progressing, and life is happening all around us even when we seem stuck on disappointment.
Eventually, the sun will rise. Sometimes when the sun rises, it looks different than we expected it to, but when we are following after Christ, I believe that God will cause the sun to rise in each of our lives according to His will.
When the sun does rise, it is majestic, but the colors quickly fade into blue and brightness.
This is the moment when you and I should turn around and look behind us.
Behind The Nest Maternity Home
As those beautiful colors give way to the brightness of the sun before us, there are deep colors forming behind us.
And so this happens in life.
When we see the promises taking shape, we forget the tension we had previously lived in. However, when we turn around for a moment and look back, there are beautiful colors there too.
We also know that in the course of Christianity and the people of God, we are living in this tension, waiting for the second-coming of Christ. We see His hand all around us and feel His Spirit within us as we live each day waiting for the rising of the Son on earth once again.
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy.” – 1 Peter 1:8
From The Inside Out 