The sunrise is a symbol for the hope I have for 2013. Last week after our band rehearsal on Wednesday I contacted my friend Zach and asked if he would film a sunrise to use on our stage screen during the song, Awakening. (And he did!) As we worshiped on Sunday morning, I started realizing that every song we sang had this theme of the sunrise/morning or light in it.*

The sunrise is a beautiful reminder of God’s faithfulness, and his mercies that are indeed new every morning. It has much symbolism, but to me it is a symbol of my hope that lies in knowing and following Jesus. Zachariah’s prophecy of Jesus’ coming says it this way. “[B]ecause of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”” (Luke 1:78–79 ESV) Jesus has visited us, and now he dwells in our hearts through faith. Our God is with us! Christ in me is the hope of glory! “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV) So as I worshiped on Sunday, my heart became full of hope and anticipation for us as a church, walking by faith and not by sight, trusting in and following Christ, disciples on mission making disciples.

I began my day at 4:45 AM with a prayer in my heart. All of my life I have been a ‘beep, beep, beep’ waker-upper, but I recently got an alarm clock app and gave a try at waking up to music. I made a playlist of the song-prayers that I wanted on my heart first thing in the morning. Sure enough, as soon as the music starts, my heart locks in with the lyric, a prayer to God to start the day. Take a moment and listen to this song that I awoke to on Sunday. This is Rend Collective Experiment’s Keep Me Near.

I resonate with every phrase in this song, but the one that stands out most to me is the ending of the chorus, “Breathe your desires in me.” My greatest desire is that I would passionately long for and pray for the things that the Lord desires, that his will would be my will. This is a great picture of what it means to be near to his heart. It is out of a personal nearness to the Lord that I must lead our congregation as we worship this year. “But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;” (Psalms 73:28 NASB)

Trinity Worshipers, let this be our waking attitude each day, “Lord, breathe your desires in me. Keep near to your heart!” Let’s anticiapte all that he will do in and through us in 2013. May each sunrise be a reminder to us of these things.

*The references in our worship songs on 1/6/13  to morning, sunrise and light were unplanned; well, unplanned by me if you know what I mean.

At Your Name “At your name, the morning breaks in glory…”
Forever Reign “you are light, you are light when the darkness closes in”
Awakening “like the rising sun that shines, from the darkness comes a light”
Like Incense “so your Word is my joy and meditation from the rising to the setting of the sun,” “I will seek you in the morning …”
Overcome “you’re sending us out as light in this broken land”
You Are Good refers to Lamentations 3:22,23 that says the Lord’s mercies are new every morning

Bill Born