Arise, shine for your light has come and the Glory of the Lord has risen upon you." Isaiah 60:1
Or, as I like to say, get up, get moving, do the thing at hand, take the bull by the horns! Shine His light out - Then, the Glory of the Lord will rise upon you.
Have you noticed how God loves to play chess?
You move.
He moves.
You move again.
He moves.
As soon as we arise, we find He was there all the time, He just wanted us to move first. He's always there, He just won't do life FOR us. We have to fold the laundry.
Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost For His Highest (February 19) says this:
Drudgery is one of the finest touchstones of character there is. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything to do with the ideal - the utterly mean, grubby things; and when we come in contact with them we know instantly whether or not we are spiritually real.
Life is lived in the trenches and the valley, in spite of or maybe because of our lofty goals and aspirations for a meaningful, purpose-filled existence. The very dailyness of dishes, dinners and dusting can threaten to wear us out and cause us to question the meaning of life altogether. I must've been made for something better than this, right? (Can I get an AMEN??)
Over the years I've learned that the biggest test comes in the smallest things. The day to day drudgery can either overwhelm or teach us what love really means. The 'utterly mean, grubby things' beckon me to be spiritually real.
Can you Arise, Shine when you're scraping oatmeal off the walls for the umpteenth time? When the texting teenager rudely cuts you off in traffic? When your husband forgot your anniversary...again? When no one even offers to help you set the table?
When you enter into the light that's already shining you can then shine it out to others.
Jesus showed us the way in John 13:4-5. In His day, washing feet was the lowest of tasks, reserved for servants only. Yet, He took a towel, girded Himself and washed the stinking, dusty feet of 12 plain men, fishermen and brothers, a traitor and a tax collector. He turned drudgery into the divine, the meanest of tasks into a light filled example for every generation, an act that continues to inspire and infuriate us today.
Sometimes I wish I could just tear certain pages right out of my bible.
Yet, His words haunt and humiliate my pride. And the question looms large....
...Can I change a diaper the way He took a towel?
Blessings,
Kate
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