Sunrise.
God keeps speaking to me through sunrises lately.
I don't mean that I wake up early and watch the sun rise on a daily basis (my usual time of awakening is actually just after the sun comes up). I mean that I have been dreaming about sunrises while asleep. And then I wake up and see photos of gorgeous dawn sky-paintings all over social media. And it's always the sun RISING, not setting.
Just this morning, for example, after dreaming that I lived out on a mountain watching the sun rise, I saw 5 gorgeous photos on Facebook of the sun rising in my area. Some were too stunning for words.
One of the dreams I had about the sunrise was so profound, I shared it in a previous blog. In case you haven't read it yet, I'll summarize. I was at a high point overlooking the ocean. On one side of the beach were people being distracted by things on the ground, and because of the distractions they were missing this glorious sun rise behind them.
They were too distracted to see that the sun was actually rising.
I had another dream recently where I was standing atop another very high tower, much like something you would see in the Lord of the Rings movies. It actually reminded me of Isaiah 62:6, where God posts His "watchmen on the walls." In the dream, my eyes were fixed on the horizon and I said aloud, "Am I supposed to warn others about approaching armies and war or something?" I heard a voice whisper in response, "No...there are many people doing that these days. What I want YOU to do is remind My people that the sun is rising..."
So here I am, reminding you that the sun is rising. The dawn is here. And the darkness cannot last forever.
"A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).
I feel like this has a double encouragement in it. First of all for the Body of Christ who have been under constant assault this past season. THE SUN IS RISING. The night is not going to last forever! Hold fast, yet again, to HOPE. The dawn is coming.
And for the prophetic intercessors - the watchmen on the walls who have seen so much and fought so hard for so long, often feeling the weariness of the prolonged season - THE SUN IS RISING. You are interceding from a place of VICTORY - don't miss the arising dawn in the East because you are distracted by the shadows in the West.
Just when defeat looked imminent, JESUS CAME. Just when all hope seemed to be fading, JESUS ROSE AGAIN.
THE SUN IS RISING.
