Arise and Shine

She hadn’t always been an early riser. In fact, her motto was, “The more beauty rest, the better.”

However, there are only so many hours in a day, and even though she was fully rested, she began to feel sluggish and spiritually depleted. Why? Because she was neglecting the One who holds the power to totally and completely fill her, thus missing out on soul-satisfying presence.

She had a life-altering conversation with a friend in a similar season of life who encouraged her to set her alarm an hour earlier and ask the Holy Spirit to wake her up. And guess what? He did!

Now she craves that time at first light when it is just her and her Creator, spending time in His Word, gaining wisdom on how to be a better wife, mother, sister, and daughter. Telling the Lord of her struggles and experiencing His sweet encouragement. It’s there that she also asks for opportunities to reflect the light of Christ in her everyday life.

God told the Israelites in Isaiah 60:1 (HCSB) after a long period of spiritual dryness,

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD shines over you.

Notice that they first had to arise if they wanted to shine. They wouldn’t have been able to experience the full glory of the Almighty by staying in their comfortable tents, and we won’t either. But He wants us to know that it is worth every minute of lost beauty rest. In fact, being willing to arise will make us more beautiful.

The specific hour of the day isn’t as important as simply being willing to consistently arise in order to spend time with the One who makes us shine!

Lord, we desire for Your glory to shine over us. We understand the importance of arising to meet with You so that we can be the best version of ourselves. Wake us up to arise and shine.

This is an excerpt from Made to Shine by April Rodgers – a devotional book released by DaySpring publishing. Learn more about this book, or shop other books & devotionals from DaySpring.