Have you ever watched a sunrise? Did you make plans beforehand to watch it, or was it something you just got to take in because you had to be up early for some reason?
Some people go running or walking in the morning (which I did before winter hit!) and see the sun come up every day. It is an awesome sight! This post has various pictures of sunrises I have been blessed to see.
It seems like whenever I am on vacation, or visiting a new place, I plan to take in at least one sunrise. I want to see what it looks like other places than here at home. I am a morning person anyway, but since the weather has been so cold, I am usually doing my reading or studying for the day instead of out walking, and I don’t always look outside.
Anyway, have you ever noticed that every sunrise looks different? Some days there are clouds in the sky that make it super dramatic. Other days the colors are intense and almost overwhelming. Some days the colors are light and airy and calming. No two sunrises will have the exact same atmospheric conditions, which means every single one of them is different. And the same sunrise can look different even across the same city.
When I watch the sunrise, I am not really aware of how long it takes. I have honestly never timed it. I love looking over the horizon and seeing the change of color on the buildings, mountains, clouds, trees, or water that is nearby. I love how the clouds move, how the sky reflects the various shades, and seems to change every few minutes.
Did you know that the sunrise doesn’t take the same amount of time everyday either? It is longer or shorter depending on the time of year.
In the time-lapse video I posted, it looks like the sky changes in an instant, but that was a sped-up video. It wasn’t that drastic of a change in real-time. The sky gradually turned those colors.
When we watch a sunrise, we don’t care how much time it takes because we are enjoying the nuances of the sunrise, the subtle shifts and changes of color. We aren’t hurrying it along, or wishing it would just be morning already.
I was meditating on this most of the day today because I recently read this verse:
2 Peter 1:19 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:”
The scriptures create light within us because they are truth. Here scripture is being compared to a light shining in a dark place, and we are to take heed (pay attention, obey).
The verse goes on to say “…until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:” The word ‘until’ in this verse is actually two Greek words which mean “how long, while, and where”. This signifies a process. It doesn’t happen instantaneously. It is gradual over time, just like a sunrise, and it happens wherever you happen to be. (Just like a sunrise!)
But sometimes we don’t like that. We want change NOW. We want change FAST. We want change to be DRAMATIC. We get frustrated with ourselves and wish we could just be perfect already.
But perhaps while we’re walking in our journey of faith, we should just take in the subtle changes with joy. Every nuance of change should delight us, just like the sky at sunrise. It means we are growing!
So every time you keep your mouth shut instead of speaking foolishness, rejoice! Every time you read your Bible instead of getting online in the morning, rejoice! The word ‘dawn’ here means “To glimmer through.” So any glimmer of the day star within us is a beautiful thing!
And it doesn’t matter how long it takes. This verse doesn’t say how long it ought to be until the day dawns. It also doesn’t say exactly HOW it happens. So each person’s walk with God, and time of growth is going to be different.
Sometimes growth comes with stormy skies and dark, troubling clouds. Other times it comes with clear and bright skies in a time of rest. Remember, every sunrise is different, and the growth of every person is different. Comparing which is better or more beautiful only results in robbing the joy and delight from one instead of appreciating the beauty of both.
So next time you catch a sunrise, thank the Lord for the work He is doing in your life- no matter how slow it seems, no matter how small the changes, rather than wishing it were already done and you were perfect. Just like the sunrise happens every morning, the Lord’s work in our lives continues, because He is faithful.
And that is a beautiful thing.
2 Peter 1:19 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:”
Phil. 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”
Lamentations 3:21-23
(21) This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
(22) It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
(23) They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Of Faith & Fortitude 
Leave a comment