It's Time to Rise and Shine!

“Rise and Shine” is a phrase I heard often as a child. My dad would wake me up every morning singing reveille and saying those words.  As a little girl, I was delighted to be woken up that way. As I grew into my teen years I admit it bugged me. What I wouldn’t give to hear my daddy say those things to me again.  After I married and had children, it’s a song my kids learned in Sunday School. “Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory!”   It was peppy and fun with gestures to go along with it.

After reading a friend’s post about the frustrations of working on a new computer that would not cooperate, I realized that it’s a rough world out there and we don’t even have to leave the house! Life can be so frustrating. The world says it’s walking in “freedom” yet chaos is everywhere. There’s very little commitment, hardly any standards and what used to be normal is viewed as weird. Life has indeed gotten topsy turvy, in a state of utter disorder and confusion. Often it’s hard to get up in the morning and to turn on the tv means hearing news about wars, murders, disasters and more. Rarely do we wake up to hear anything that will bring joy or peace or comfort.

So how do we do it? How do we live in the light when all around us is falling apart? How do we present the Truth in light of such wrong thinking? Where do we go to find peace in a world in such uproar? Can we find joy in the midst of darkness? Can we make ends meet in a world that wants more and more and more from us? What about our rights? What about our future? Who cares if we’re going off  a fiscal cliff or a spiritual cliff? Can we hang on, can we survive, can we overcome?

Oh beloved, it’s time to “Rise and shine and give God the glory!”  It’s time to wake up in the morning and praise the One Who gave you everything for life and godliness, in spite of the sorrow that hits you square in the face, the gloom and concern that wakes you up, in spite of the hurts and regrets and unfulfilled dreams. For God’s Word is your only source of hope, not just in bad times, but in good times as well. God knows you and He has promised many things to you. And His promises are not left at the altar, but rather His promises walk you down the aisle, carry you throughout your life and stay with you all the way to heaven! When the world is tearing you down, God promises to lift you above it. When people are walking away, God has promised to stay the course with you. When sorrows hit, God has promised to give you joy unspeakable and full of glory.  

I know. When you’re in the midst of the troubles, it’s hard to believe, but God loves you. I know it’s difficult some days to get out of bed, but God is the One Who wakes you up each day.  And, if God Himself is waking you up, then that’s a sure sign that He has a plan for the day, regardless of the headlines, the hurts, the fears or the concerns.   Just follow Him.  Just live by His Word. Just trust in the Only One Who loves you unconditionally and will never leave you or forsake you.

If you follow the Lord, live in the light of His Word and seek His face, everything else will work out. It might be messy along the way, but His will for your life will be completed. Hangeth thou in there, beloved!

Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. NAS

Psalm 43:3 Send out Your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You live.

John 15:11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with My joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

Romans 15:13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.