Day 25: Waiting for the Sun

Jeremiah 23:21-25:38

2 Thessalonians 2:1-17

Psalm 84:1-12

Proverbs 25:15

In the summer of 2014 I worked at Hume Lake Christian Camps as a hostess in the cafeteria. That summer I saw God do some really extraordinary things in my life and so I took a solitary pilgrimage back for a quick weekend in the summer of 2015. A lot had changed in my life in that little year and I was really needing to remember how good God was and how He was still moving in my life, whether I saw it or not.

I drove up all by myself (which I was really proud of) on a Friday night to stay in a friend's room. The next morning I woke up really early (a practice I was very unaccustomed to being a college student on summer break) to see the sunrise. I had planned for this and packed socks, sweatpants and an old blanket I wouldn't mind to see get dirty. I bundled up and sat with my journal shivering on a bench near the lake.

It was dark as the sun was making the slow, slow climb up behind the mountain.

For a while sitting there I thought about leaving. It was cold and I was beginning to wonder if it was going to take too long for it to be worth it.

But I waited and I waited and suddenly the sun came out and everyone could see it. The sky was different, totally changed, and I was instantly not cold.

And yes, it was worth it. I am a sunrise evangelist.

I wrote in my journal about how waiting on God sometimes feels like waiting for the sunrise. Uncomfortable and maybe I sit there with doubts about whether He's going to show up or whether it will even be worth it if He shows up, how much of a difference will it really make?

When God shows up it's a lot like when the sun finally peeks over the mountain. Incredibly worth it and you can't miss it. What a difference He makes.

And I learned that morning that when waiting on God gets hard, I have to stay put. If I go back inside, go back to sleep, where it's comfortable, I'm going to miss it.

If I want to see God show up, I need to wait in a ready posture.

As I read today about false prophets and the end times and how people are lying and preaching "peace, peace," it sounds a lot like waiting for God inside, sleeping, where it's comfortable. "Don't worry, go back to sleep, everything is okay."

But God says, "No! Wake up! Come alive!" We need to be ready.

If we are sleeping we're going to miss it, the Day of the Lord Jesus when the sky lights up and the atmosphere changes. We need to be ready for it! It's not going to always feel great...we might be cold, lonely, uncomfortable, afraid, etc.

But Jesus is the One who's going to do the lighting up of the sky and warming hearts and starting a holy fire...how hard is it really for us to link arms and wait in the cold morning air for just a little bit longer. Won't it be so worth it?