Arise & Shine

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.  Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”  (Isaiah 60:1-3)

For the past week or so my seven-year-old daughter, Hannah, and I have gotten up early, put the dogs on their leashes and taken off for an early morning walk.  One of the benefits of doing so is getting to see the beauty of daybreak as the sun rises in the sky and grows in intensity.  When we leave it is barely light and by the time we return home, much more exhausted than the dogs, the daylight has taken over and dispelled all trace of the dark.

The prophet Isaiah looked around at the world in his day and saw little trace of light.  The evil of mankind had brought a blanket of darkness over the world that God originally created “good”.  Yet when he looked at the people of God he saw light breaking through.  Why?  Because they were covered by the “glory of the Lord” that had dawned in their lives.  As God’s chosen people they were going to be the rays of light that would drive back the darkness and allow others to see the Lord.  In fact, the prophet makes clear that their influence would stretch far beyond their imagination to impact nations around the world.

Today, the world hasn’t changed much from Isaiah’s time.  The darkness that surrounds its people is as thick and oppressive as ever.  People are stumbling and perishing and desperate for light.  That’s the bad news.  There is, however, good news – God’s glory has not diminished one bit and that glory is still able to puncture the darkness and bring light to a lost world!  And the way God chooses to do so hasn’t changed either.  He still uses “moons” to light up the darkness. 

One of the myths believed by a young child is that the moon “shines” at night time.  It isn’t till they get older that some well-meaning parent or science teacher lets them in on the truth – the moon doesn’t shine at all, it simply reflects the light of the sun.  When there is little or no moon the darkness wins, but when the moon is shining full the darkness is held back.

In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul makes clear that we as believers are the “moons” God uses to drive back the darkness.  “…we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord…”  It wasn’t long ago that we were a part of the very darkness we now seek to repel – “…that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  (1 Pet. 2:9) Did you notice that last phrase? – “his wonderful light” – we can never forget that the light we shine is not our own.  When we lose sight of this, when we forget the darkness we once stumbled around in, it becomes easy to look at those still living in darkness with judgmental condemnation, when instead we should be shining the light of Christ into their dark soul so they too can come to see the “light of the world” (John 8:12) The challenge for each of us is to keep our lives pure of anything that would diminish Christ’s glory from reflecting.  The impact of a life lived like that cannot be underestimated – it could reach around the world!

Clark Hausman
Clark is the pastor at Moyock Assembly of God.