Rise and Shine

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 

And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.

Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.”

• Isaiah 60:1-5

“Rise and shine” I can remember hearing these words uttered from the mouth of my mother as she so graciously woke our family up in the mornings. These words would come so kindly off her tongue, but kindly they were not received by my brothers and I. I would think “rise and shine? I’m not ready to rise and if I have to, I’m definitely not going to be shining.” Unfortunately, I can’t say that my response has changed in my older age. Especially since the voice I am waking up to now has turned into a device sounding somewhat like a miniature car alarm. How is one supposed to shine after being woken up in such an annoying way? 

Anyways, this phrase for me has changed all meaning since reading this scripture. The Lord is calling his people to “arise, shine, for your light has come, and my glory has risen upon you.” You see, we are called to rise and shine—- shining the Lord's light as soon as we rise. For our light comes from the Lord. He is saying “your light has come”. In other words, “I am here, I have come. My spirit is within you and my glory upon you. Go spread my light.” Sounds simple right? To wake up knowing that we are given a simple task of spreading the Lord's light and glory. But, it’s not so simple. I have learned that too many things, people, places are at war for my light from the moment I rise. It’s a battle everyday to wake up and choose Jesus. Too many things desire our attention from the moment our eyes open. Before we know it, we can have gone the whole day living off temporary light sources just to be left with only a slight glimpse of what’s around us. Yeah, you may have made it through the day without stumbling, but these temporary sources don’t allow us to fully see the things in front of us. They are “temporary”. Meaning, they can only hold us up for so long before the lights burn out and darkness takes over leaving us blind. 

“For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.” 

For me, this verse really stuck with me. For we know darkness is all around. The enemy loves to find us walking in the darkness as he can surround us unseen, unprepared. But the good news is that we have someone on our side fighting for us, bringing us his light. The light that the Lord is calling us to use is not self made, but instead comes from him. “The Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.” All you have to do is arise in the morning choosing him. Choose him knowing he is your one, true source of light. The only light that can withstand your day-to-day life. The only light that is powerful enough to never burn out. When we arise and choose to shine the Lord's light “they will gather together and come to you..”. People will be drawn into the Lord's spirit within you. His light through you will leave people wondering what is so different about you. It will leave a desire to want the light you have, turning them to the one, true source. This is what the Lord is calling us to do. To rise, choose to shine his light, and to shine it upon those around us. 

“Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.”

 I love the word radiant. It reminds me of the sun. It’s warm, it’s bright, and its rays can be felt by every soul it touches. That’s the kind of radiant I believe the Lord is calling us to be. Only then can we experience a heart that is full and satisfied. Only then can we experience abundance and wealth. Only when we rise and choose to shine the light of Jesus will we know a fullness that will never compare. 

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to get up, rise and shine!