Early morning lessons in Hope.

Psalms 97:11 "Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart."

Proverbs 4:18 "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full light of day."

Hope. Sunrise.

Two words that I am realizing are synonymous, of late.

Over the past year, I have (by force) become a morning person. Of course, the habit of remaining one who enjoys the quiet morning hours is up kept by, and only by, discipline.  Those of you who know me and know how much I love fast paced, exciting environments with lots of people (and loud people--I am one of those loud people) may be surprised to know, that, for myself, nothing, compares to the time I get to enjoy when it is completely quiet, silent, and there are few to no people around in the morning. Every extravert has their introverted side. This is mine.

Thanksgiving Monday, I made the effort to get up early to have one of these quiet times before I was going to leave with my family to go to a family gathering over an hour away. Though my tired head and eyes were screaming at me for the rest of the morning, I determined to drive a little ways out into the country just outside of town and catch the sunrise--something I have always wanted to do, but never really intentionally done.

I found this little driveway leading onto a field and I parked my car. Facing the east, I could see the treed horizon and the glow the sun, rising from behind a particularly prominent patch of trees in the distance. If I would have arrived there earlier than I had, I would have seen an incredible display of light and colour, before I saw the sun itself, but as it was, I was beginning to see the top quarter of the sun peeking out from his hiding place.

I was amazed at how quickly and slowly it rose all at the same time. When I stared directly at it, it seemed not to move at all. But when I would measure its height in the sky against the dark silhouette of the trees in front of it, I could visibly see it moving higher and higher. The higher it rose, the brighter the whole sky got.

On the flip side, I tried to watch the sunrise again this morning. Fail.

I could just barely make out where the sun was rising. If I did not know I was facing east, and if I had not been in the exact same spot that I had the previous morning, I would have had to wonder if the sun was even there--whether it was actually going to rise today or if it had remained stuck in a different hemisphere. All I could just see a strip of pink colour in the sky, and for a brief few minutes I could see a bright orange haze shine through the dense cloud cover before disappearing again.

*Sigh* Jesus gives the best object lessons.

Hope is my catchphrase (though it's just a single word, I know) of late, and perhaps it's because I am going through a stretching season and perhaps it's because our church has been going through a sermon series on the same topic. Regardless, the sunrise has taught me much about this thing.

Hope is the light you know is there, and a times can see growing brighter if you compare it to the surrounding darkness, but seems to remain static if all you focus on is the light itself. Staring at one light too long can cause one to lose their focus and even become blinded because they have no grasp of their other surroundings. How often have I tried so hard to focus on the good things, when truth be told, there isn't a whole lot of good going on? But if Christ is my Hope and I compare his goodness to the bad in my life, things look a whole lot better. Light and hope are most easily seen in darkness.

Hope is also that faint strip of pink in the sky or the momentary bright light that shines from behind the clouds. Hope is the sun we know is there but cannot always see through the clouds. However, we trust it's there cause it's always there. 

One more thing that I found incredibly interesting. As the sun rose this morning, I could not see the sun itself rising, but I knew it was because other parts of the sky where becoming brighter and brighter. When I looked in my rear-view mirror, I could even seen hints of blue sky!

I sensed Jesus  saying, "Don't be so intent on finding 'sunshine' one area of the horizon that you miss the blue sky and sunlight behind you." Sometimes I believe our searched for hope become misdirected or misguided because we are looking so hard for that one thing that will make everything "better." However,what if, behind that patch of darkness is actually the thing that's bring light and hope into other areas of life or further down the road? In that case, do I waste my time focusing on the darkness, or turn my attention to the light dawning behind me?

Let us also remember: the verse above are promises for the righteous.