The Son Is Coming

I woke up an hour after my alarm. I had wanted to get up and spend time being with God early, before heading out to see the sunrise. Whenever I'm at the beach I like watch the sunrise over the ocean as many times as I can, since it's not something I can do at home. As I peeked through the blinds I quickly realized the sky was already changing, lightened a few shades up from midnight blue. I also spotted some high altitude clouds that looked like they would turn from purple to gray any moment. I rapidly put on my clothes and ran out the door. I was still a 3 minute bike ride away from the beach. Jumping on my bike I told my feet to peddle as fast as they could to the entrance to the beach. All the while I could see the signs of the sunrise. Purples were beginning to show through the tops of the trees. When my feet landed on the boardwalk I looked up and I could tell the sunrise was in full effect, but I couldn't see the expanse through the trees. This sunrise was 20 minutes earlier than the sunrise the day before because of the height of the clouds in the sky getting lit up. I started out walking down the lengthy tree covered boardwalk and then sensed an urgency to pick up the pace as I got closer to the beach. I began to run since anyone who loves sunrises knows, the moments change quickly as God paints the sky. Excitement was building as I anticipated the break in the trees. As I emerged from the trees and stood upon the sand dunes I was able to see what was really happening. It took my breath away as I witnessed the most brilliant sunrise I'd ever seen.

Just For Me

“I was in complete awe and wonder as this majestic scene unfolded from glory to glory."

As I looked around on the beach I noticed not ONE single person out there with me. I laughed because I felt this display was just for me - and I felt so loved! I continued running until I reached the water. I was in complete awe and wonder as this majestic scene slowly unfolded from glory to glory. I remained with my feet in the warm salt water for the next 40 minutes as the sky effortlessly changed colors before my eyes while I worshipped God and his steadfast love.

Parallel

I began to reflect on the morning and how it really paralleled my recent personal experiences with God. In the days and months after my encounter I felt one of the best ways to describe what had happened to me was that I felt God woke me up. While I believe many people have experienced the love of God in similar ways, I have only recently been enjoying glimpses of God's infinite glory and incredibly intimate love for me. I think for a long time I talked about the sunrise but I had never experienced it in its fullness. It's one thing to catch a glimpse of purple through the blinds and "know" that there is a sunrise (or even a sun that makes everything beautiful) and it's an entirely different thing to step onto the beach and be moved to tears with the beauty displayed by the son and his movement.

“It's an entirely different thing to tell you that you should come with me and then not do anything to help you get there.”

The saddest part of this story is that my 14 year old daughter wanted to go with me that morning to see the sunrise but because I woke up late I didn't want to disturb her because we were going to have to rush out the door. So I thought, "You know, she needs the rest...she's not gonna want to rush...she might get mad", you know that angry tired thing teens do when you try to wake them up. Right as I was walking off the beach after watching the most breathtaking sunrise of my life, my daughter texted me, "Mom, you didn't wake me up!" At that moment I felt so sad that I didn't share this with her. That I didn't at least check and see if she wanted to come with me. It's also an entirely different thing to tell you that you should come with me and then not do anything to help you get there. So I'm asking you - Do you want to come with me and see glimpses God's glory? Because it's real and more magnificent than we could ever imagine. It's time to wake up - the son is coming.