Rise as Faithfully as the Sun

The following is a journal entry I wrote on June 30, 2011 sitting in an airport on my way to a week-long vacation in California after an early morning drive to the airport.


I just had to write down how blessed I felt while driving here this morning.

Well, first off, I had to leave at 5:45am, so I was worried that I would be tired while driving. I prayed several times that God would give me energy and keep me awake and that the trip would go smoothly.  He did just that.  I didn't feel a bit tired through the whole hour and a half drive. The sun hadn't even come up yet when I started, but 45 minutes later, I could see it peeking over the hills and the trees.  That's my favorite part of the day, when the sun is just beginning to rise. Especially today, with no cars around me, and surrounded by open fields, I just felt God's peace.  I was reminded that His grace is new every morning and of the promises He makes to love and protect me.

Another thing I love about the sun beginning to rise is how much bigger it is--well, how much bigger it seems to be. This morning, as the sun peeked through the trees in my rear view mirror, I could see the perfect outline of the sun, before it became so bright that it hurt to look.  The sun is so big and it moves so fast. Within 5 minutes of when I first noticed it, it had risen even more, quite drastically. It always puts in to perspective how BIG the sun is, and how BIG our world is for it to move so quickly, but to give us so many hours of sunlight each day--then of course, how BIG my God must be to have created everything within only 7 days. The same God who made the BIG earth and the BIG sun loves little me. I'm one out of billions in this world, and yet God made me, He loves me, He knows my future, He's laid out plans for me, He knows my past, my future, and my every moment in between. He knows how many hairs are on my head, how many times my heart will beat, and how many breaths I'll take in this lifetime.

There's no need to worry or be anxious about anything because God already knows your future, and He's walking right along with you--even when you can't feel Him.

I'm obsessed with the song, "Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher. The chorus goes:
          "Christ is risen from the dead
          trampling over death by death
          come awake, come awake       
          come and rise up from the grave

          Christ is risen from the dead
          we are one with Him again
          come awake, come awake
          come and rise up from the grave."

What a beautiful song to couple with the beautiful sunrise this morning. Christ has defeated death, and physically rose from a tomb to Heaven.  He has also called my heart to also rise up from the grave and awaken my spirit and faith in the Lord again.

Praise the Lord for such a blessed day already, and may He bless me once again today to see the same sun set this evening.

Arise each day as faithfully as the sun to fulfill God's purpose for your life, just as the sun fulfills God's plan each day. His grace is new each morning. Praise the Lord, for He is so good.

"Sing praise my soul to the Maker of the sky" David Crowder Band


The sunrise on June 30, 2011

The sun only 5 minutes later

Kristen