When my 60th birthday came in March, God spoke to me quietly about one of the very first verses I learned as a young girl. I regularly attended Girl's Auxiliary where Helen Poplin and Gladys Sipe taught us the Word of God and opened my heart to those who were serving on the Southern Baptist mission field. This was only the beginning of my love for God's Word. One of the first verses I committed to memory was Isaiah 60:1.
“Arise, Shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!” I admit I wasn't at all sure what this verse meant but coupled with the song “We've A Story to Tell to the Nations” from the Baptist hymnal, a subtle but all important message that I could affect the world for Christ was birthed in me.
The first verse filled with such hopeful lyrics is forever stamped on my brain and my heart.
“We've a story to tell to the nations
That shall turn their hearts to the right;
A story of truth and mercy,
A story of peace and light...a story of peace and light.
Chorus:
For the darkness shall turn to dawning and the dawning to noonday bright,
And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth, The kingdom of love and light.”
This week as I sat with my new friend Kay at the coffeehouse, I shared with her my desire to write a book and also the frustration in whether or not that was a worthy goal. Her reply was pointed and simple but profound in its impact.
“You might think of it as I have a story to tell.” she said.
“I have a story to tell.” I wrote under the date at the top of the page.
It's been almost a week since she spoke these words to me. It wasn't until this morning I was drawn again to the words of Isaiah 60:1. Today has been a day when I felt like a bag full of marbles dumped upside down, all my thoughts rolling off in different directions. Truly by lunchtime my thoughts, like so many loose ends, needed to be gathered into one place as I prayed for focus to come.
In Jen Hatmaker's book, 7, (yes, that is the title of this very humorous/yet serious book about the author's mutiny against excess in our society ). Having reached the last chapter where she launches out on her final fast from excess to embark on a time of Seven Sacred Pauses, I found myself reading these words.
“God this is the story you've given me to live. Write it with beauty and light. Banish the dark pockets of selfishness and jealousy with truth. Forgive me for choosing envy when I should have been thrilled your name will become even more famous. My gosh, I am a mess. Teach me peace in a violent world, already riddled with competition and greed. Give me a heart of flesh that contends for your glory through anyone, everyone, anywhere, everywhere. Reign over me until there is only you.”
As I made my sacred pause at noon, called the Hour of Illumination, which has been practiced in times past by the ancients, monastics through prayer pauses every day, my thoughts turned to Isaiah 60:1. I found myself thoughtfully reading onto the second verse.
“For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and dense darkness [all] peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you, and His glory shall be seen on you.”
On a day when my thoughts seem as scattered as the seeds of a dandelion, it is much more difficult for me to follow my storyline and trust and believe the glorious light and hope of our Lord Jesus is rising on me in this moment.
Only moments after reading the focus verse for this prayer pause, I received an email about a critical need of a dear friend. As I paused to speak to God about this father and son who so clearly need His wisdom, peace and comfort, I realized how far reaching my prayers might be as I leave the outcome in His hands. There is no distance too great for God to span in answering our prayers for another. Just recently, I experienced the victory of a believer in Thailand as we interceded here in America with others around the world.
In the sacred pause called the Hour of Illumination, we honor the hour when Jesus embraced the cross. (Matt. 27:45) We follow His lead in vowing to love this world like Jesus did. We pledge to shine brightly, becoming the hope to the hopeless and light in the darkness. We pray against the darkness that consumes, and steals and ruins... even the one that attempts to destroy our focus with loose ends thinking.
We've a story to tell to the nations,
A story of truth and mercy, peace and light...
Every day has a story in it. There are words, perhaps even runaway thoughts and lack of focus. But God can enter our story at any time if we invite Him. He may bring new thoughts or even a memory of something from the past but there are always lessons to be learned.
Today I was reminded that a sacred pause in the middle of the day can bring an opportunity to spread His light to someone miles away, even across the globe. My story today comes full circle from the time I was a small girl, memorizing Isaiah 60:1 to the moment when I was given the opportunity to pray for God's light to shine into the circumstances of another. I feel honored to be included in God's bigger story of redemption as I allow Him to illuminate my days and focus my thoughts towards others.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.”
“The entrance and unfolding of Your Words give light.” (Psalm 119:130)
