It's a Sunrise, Not a Sunset

This is how I ended my first book. It was with a photo of a sunrise over Hazar Lake in eastern Turkey. It’s also the title of a song written by someone special to me. The song is titled, “Its a Sunrise and Not a Sunset.” That sentence says a lot. This is how I am starting my second book. The end of my first book starts the beginning of my second book.

We go from faith to faith, from strength to strength and from glory to glory. 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV says it like this, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

We don’t arrive somewhere in the journey and then get comfortable. Life is dynamic. Life is always moving. That is why it’s called life. For life to be life it must be alive and therefore moving forward, growing into something or someone. If life were static and not moving, it wouldn’t be life, but death. Death stands still. Life moves forward.

When looking at that picture how do you know if it’s a sunrise or a sunset? Most pictures are of a sunset. It is what we most focus on. Think about it. How often does someone photograph or paint a sunrise? Yet there is no lack of sunset pictures and photos.

Why is that? Have you ever wondered? Maybe its because its easier to be awake for a sunset than a sunrise. Maybe sunsets have just become a habit to photograph or paint. We are usually more awake for a sunset than for a sunrise. If we do see a sunrise we are often too tired to photograph it or appreciate it like we do a sunset.

What does a sunset do anyway? It closes the day. It’s the beginning of nightfall when it gets colder, and harder to see due to darkness. It tells us its time to sleep and often can be lonely if we are troubled or alone. It can remind us of our own dark nights in life and of Jesus death on the cross.

What does a sunrise do? It opens a new day. It allows us to see because of daylight. It speaks of hope as a new day begins. It gives us a fresh outlook. It ushers in new life and potential promises to be fulfilled. It reminds us of the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. It says in Lamentations 3: 22-23 NKJV, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

The same can be true in our lives. We can focus on the day that is closing, or the loss, or the sun that is setting. If we only see the sun setting and the darkness approaching, we often can’t see at all and want to give up hope. Maybe we are stuck in the sunset. If so we are stuck in the death of Jesus on the cross and as a result we get stuck our own lives.

We can miss the sunrise when we get stuck watching only the sunset. Sometimes we sleep through the sunrise because it’s the beginning of the day and we are too tired to get up to see it because we have been so focused on the sunset.

In our personal lives we can do the same. We miss the gains in life because we focus on the losses. We miss the resurrection power of Jesus when we stay focused on His death on the cross. The sun set on His death, but the sun rose on His resurrection.

It is a matter of perspective. In looking at that photo you don’t know the time of day it was taken. It can look like a sunset if you want to see it that way. Sunrises and sunsets are not that different in beauty and appearance, but they are in the direction they steer us.

One directs us to view the finish of the day, while the other directs us to view the beginning of the day. The sunset reminds us of another day that has finished and it will never be relived again. All we have are memories of the day that passed.

A sunrise reminds us of the promise of the day to come. It has not been lived yet. There is hope for it to be blessed. The one directs us to view the endings or potential losses, while the other one directs us to view the beginnings or potential gains. What would happen if we lived our lives like it’s a sunrise, and not a sunset?

Note: Did you know the sun never really sets? It keeps rising somewhere on the globe as it appears to set in another place. There is a continual sunrise around the globe over and over, each day, week, month, and year. It never stops rising somewhere.

We are the same. We keep rising and not setting. What I am saying is that we go from test to test, trial to trial, strength to strength and glory to glory. That is how we grow and move forward. In other words, we live. If tests, trials, strengths and God’s glory stopped in our lives we would die. We would be stagnant, or not moving and therefore dead, not alive. The way to gain, is to loose. I am getting ahead of myself though.

My first book was about that. It was about gaining strength and blessing through radical obedience. It’s my life message and it’s yours too if you are a follower of Jesus who is completely submitted to His will and purposes for your life.

When I finished the manuscript for “Housewives can Change the World,” I had no idea my world was going to change as drastically as it did. I need to start this book where the other one left off. It was in May and June 2010.

This part of my story started within a month of putting the last dot on the finished manuscript of my first book. Two main events took place in my life in late May and early June of 2010 that started a whole new era.