Arise, Shine

Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the Lord will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

The Gentiles shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your rising.

-Isaiah 60:1-3

I received this message a few days ago and it really encouraged me. The first two lines especially caught my attention but the scripture that follows really ties it all together. 

One of my favorite shows to watch with my mom was Xena: Warrior Princess. We especially loved Gabrielle who was her witty and sarcastic sidekick. I still remember a quote from this show that gave us the giggles and that we would repeat on many occasions.

"I'll rise but I refuse to shine."

Haven't we all had days like this? Where it seems the world is way too perky, too awake and too ready to take on the day when we haven't even had our first sip of coffee yet?

So naturally, this verse caught my attention. I've noticed a lot of sparkle hanging around lately. It's been in devotionals and shining on my walls in the morning as the sun is sneaking in the pesky gap between my blinds and my window. At first I thought it was such an odd statement to be in my bible and to be catching my eye with this commandment to sparkle. 

Yet, it fits so perfectly where I am in my life right now. Completely trusting God. Not making another move until He opens my door for me. Not frantically crying to Him that it 'feels' like my life has fallen apart and it's yet to put itself back together. I am in a season of waiting and I know that I need to embrace it because this time with God alone is precious. 

I wanted to share with you the pep talk I gave myself when I came across this verse. I truly believe writing down God's words and just a few quick thoughts open up a world of deeper meanings and understanding. This totally opened itself up to one of my favorite moments so far.

arise and shine

get up and brush the dust off.
like a diamond hidden in the dirt, dust it off and watch it shine.
dust off the hurt, pain, negativity.

brush off the people who say it can't be done, it's impossible, it won't happen.
brush off the fear, the unknown, the past failures.

arise. stand up tall.
be confident in the lord.
be sure of his plans for you.
claim his promises and refuse to believe that ANYTHING could stop his sovereign will.

you are chosen. you are here for a reason.

sparkle, shine...

So, while I will keep our Gabrielle comment as something to give me the giggles when I need it on my grumpy 'we can't talk about this until I have coffee first' mornings, I am going to instead focus on shining. For my light has come. It is here, He is here. He is the light. He is the way and He makes beauty from ashes. Diamonds from rock.

For me, personally, I don't believe arise means I need to get up and go. It simply means, get up. Pick my head up, dust off my hurt feelings, and shine instead. Be the best version of myself that I can be while I am standing right where I am at. I don't have to move from where I am at, I don't have to receive another blessing ever again, and I can still get up and be the light that let's others see that this life is beautiful. No matter what the situation is. No matter how it feels. No matter if I still hurt. Arise and shine.

Plus, what girl doesn't love a little sparkle and shine?

Love,
S

PS - As a sidenote to think about, in the above pictures I took, the dark purple ball and the light pink one on the side are actually exactly the same color. (Dark purple). When I took the photos I didn't remember having two different colors so I had to double check my glass bowl! Amazing what a little bit of God's light can do for us.