Displays of Faithfulness

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"You paint the morning sky with miracles in mind.  My hope will always stand for You hold me in Your hand.  Lord, I'm amazed by You...How You love me."  Author Jared Anderson "nails it" in his song "Amazed."  Sunrises always remind me of God's constant presence and affection for me.  Each one is unique and displays a different dimension of God's palette.  The one He painted on Tuesday morning was outstandingly beautiful.  It began with a band of deep reddish-orange at the horizon in the eastern sky.  As time went on it changed to pink-orange and added separate streaks of color that climbed up into the sky and spilled over into the southern horizon.  Meanwhile, the eastern horizon changed to a bright light as the sun began to rise.
 
The outstanding brilliance and uniqueness of this landscape reminded me of Jared's song and of the faithfulness of God.  The sun never fails to rise.  We may not see it for it could be hidden by the clouds, but it is always there.  We know that all of nature takes its commands from the Lord Almighty.  He asked Job, "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?" (Job 38:12) The sunrise is a reminder of God's power over all the earth.  "The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets." (Psalm 50:1) "The day is Yours, and Yours also the night; You establish the sun and moon." (Psalm 74:16)
 
As the song "Amazed" declares, "My hope will always stand, for You hold me in Your hand."  Just as the sun always comes up every morning, we can count on the faithfulness of God.  "The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made." (Psalm 145:13) For me, the sunrise is a physical manifestation of the hope that we have in God.  The surety of the sun rising daily reminds me of His faithfulness and that He is a covenant-keeping God whose promises are kept forever.  I join the Psalmist in declaring, "I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your Word.  My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promises." (Psalm 119:147-148)
 
Just as we are assured that the sun rises with the dawn, so too we should let our hope in the Lord rise.  Isaiah, the prophet, speaks for the Lord when he says, "...Those who hope in Me will not be disappointed." (Isaiah 49:23) The Psalmist agrees:  "O Israel, put your hope in the Lord for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption."  The Lord wants us to be joyful in hope. (Romans 12:12) "...Where morning dawns and evening fades You call forth songs of joy." (Psalm 65:8)
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