Wait for the Sunrise

One morning I got up earlier than I usually do. I had been yearning to wake up at a time to where the house is silent, yet I was not tempted to fall back into a deep sleep. I yearn for time with my Lord, but as each of us knows - our flesh is weak, especially when our bodies are exhausted, even our minds. 

One morning, He gave me the strength to get up and grabbing my coffee, I retreated to sit in my bedroom nook in front of an open window. I sat and just enjoyed the crisp cool fall air, the beginning chatter of waking birds singing in the dark, the twinkle of fading stars, and the dull almost ambient drone of commuter cars on the busy highway next to our home. 

I praised the Lord and then asked Him to just speak to me. To allow me to be still and quiet for but a few moments so that I could hear His voice. It was hard! I am so used to doing all the talking in our relationship (I am a woman after all lol), so I had to constantly restrain my thoughts, my voice, my heart in order to just listen. The first thing I heard was "trust". Trust Him. Trust the Lord. Entrust everything in my life to Him:  my fears, my worries, my life, my joys, my praise. Trust Him.

The second thing I heard and saw, was He drew my attention to the sky. I sat and watched as it very slowly went from black to gray to yellowy-pink to a light shade of powder blue. He explained to me that His coming (Jesus) is like the sunrise. We sit there and stare at a black sky, surrounded by darkness, wondering, yearning for the sun to rise. The longer we sit there waiting for the sun to rise, that we may see the vivid colors and feel the warmth of a bright morning sun, basking in the light of a new day....the longer it seems to take for it to do so. A watched pot never boils right?

It is like the night just won't go away. The darkness just will not fade. The sun will just not rise, though we know it has to. We begin to get impatient and wonder if we should go back to sleep. The darkness of the night is this world we live in. Our world is so fallen, so wicked, so evil, so full of the selfish desires of men and the abominations and deceit of the demonic and fallen. We're sick of this world. We long for our inheritance - to be with Christ Jesus in His eternal Kingdom, free of sin.

The sun rising is Jesus returning, His second coming. It takes so long! We yearn and we wait for what seems like forever! We cling to the promise that as a sunrise brings beauty, warmth, and light....Jesus brings eternal life, peace, joy, and eternal glory. He says over and over and over again that He is coming soon. He is coming! But, just as the rising sun seems to take forever in our weak minds of flesh, so too does it seem that the Lord delays His returning.

God's Word tells us that in the latter days (today) that men will scoff and mock us saying, "Where is this Christ you prophesied? Why has He not returned? Since our ancestors walked this earth, things have carried on so where is He?" Yes, it does seem as if He isn't coming....to those who belong to the world. But, HE IS COMING SOON! I think I sat in my chair for a grand total of...40 - 45 minutes? Waiting for the sunrise, it seemed like forever. But, what is 45 minutes!? Can we not wait a mere 45 minutes? Are we that impatient!? 

A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. It is but an illustration to show how we must also wait for the Lord's coming, because He will come. The sun will not fail to rise, and like with the sunrise, when He comes....oh boy will this woman be rejoicing and praising Him with all I've got (should I still be alive on this earth)! Just as the sun rises in the east, so too will the Son of Man return in all of His glory, with every eye on this earth trained upon Him - our King!

Trust in the Lord! Trust that His promises hold true. Entrust everything to the Lord and seek Him first. He is such a patient, merciful, loving, and even gentle God. However, His patience will not endure forever and He is a righteous, just, and holy God. He does not tolerate evil, sin, and wickedness. He will not have favor upon a defiled and corrupt church. When He comes, the wicked will cry for the mountains to fall upon them and hide them from His face. He comes with a rod of iron, to judge the nations and overthrow the wicked.

So when the Lord comes, will you shout with joy or will you hide in fear? Can you trust the Lord as you patiently wait and yearn for His coming? Can you stay "awake" for His sunrise or will you fall back asleep into lukewarmness? Jesus is coming soon. Be watchful, be patient, and be vigilant. Seek the Lord and His Word daily.

3 Knowing this first; that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."...... 8 But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

- 2 Peter 3:3-4, 8

He Who testifies to these things says, "Surely I AM coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

- Revelations 22:20