“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 NIV
As I read this passage this morning, I am struck by how remarkably accurate and relevant the prophet’s statements spoken thousands of years ago, are for us today. Darkness covers the earth and thick darkness over the peoples. I won’t rant about the current state of things in our country and world, but it just takes a few short minutes reading or watching the news to realize this darkness over the peoples is real for us now.
I’m comforted by the picture of the Lord's glory rising upon me and appearing over me. So much that nations will not be able to resist the light and they will come. And I wonder what this means for me in my little world….Pflugerville….and all of the people I come into contact with in my work. Everywhere I look, I see hurting people. I believe God is calling me to be light to them. To listen, to comfort, to serve.
Last Sunday, we learned that a group of people from our church have joined in efforts to help fellow Austinites in recovering from the recent floods. Next Sunday, almost 300 of us will work together doing different work projects all over Pflugerville. I hear stories all the time from my Point of Grace friends about brothers and sisters loving on the lost in an unexpected way. I think this is what Isaiah means when he says arise, shine, for your light has come… Our Lord has come! And because He has come, and has called us by name…we can’t help but shine and provide light to those in darkness.
I pray that I could be a light for someone that’s lost today!
Erin