The heavens are telling of the glory of God, and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Psalms 19:1

I love mornings…the beginning of a new day. Fresh. Unspoiled. Waiting to be lived.

My days start in the kitchen. I make coffee, prepare Baxter’s breakfast, light the candles at the praying table, and begin. It is dark when I start to pray usually about 6:00 or so. There are no birds singing. No light. I pray on our sun porch so I can watch the day slowly come.

At first, you notice that the darkness is becoming less and less. It is getting lighter outside, yet the sun has not risen. Birds begin to sing. The cat comes from the outside building where she sleeps. She knows breakfast will be in her bowl in just a bit. Traffic picks up and I hear school buses heading to their appointed rounds.

It isn’t long before long rays of light begin to cut through the leaves of the trees. In summer, it seems as if a switch has been thrown that illuminates the trees. In winter, the naked limbs glow in the light.

And as I continue my prayer time, suddenly, that ball of fire we call the sun bursts over the horizon. The sun has come.

For me, every morning as the sun rises, it is a prophecy. A prophecy of the return of our Jesus.
As the day comes slowly and surely, as the birds and animals begin to sing and move, as the rays of light reach over the horizon, I can be certain that the sun will rise over the horizon.

In like fashion, Jesus told His disciples, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name saying, ‘I am the Christ,” and will mislead many. And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of war; see to it that you are not frightened, for these things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and in various places, there will be famines and earthquakes, but these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” Matthew 24:4-8 Also see Mark 13:24-37.

When Jesus spoke of “birth pangs”, I always think of “process”. Like when the sun rises…things happen in order…the darkness becomes less…the light comes…the world wakes up…the rays come over the horizon and then the sun rises.

When a woman is in labor, it is much the same. There is a process she goes through. Babies do not just “appear”. Her labor will usually begin with uncomfortable contractions but soon the labor grows more and more intense. One knows that as the labor goes on and she begins to “push”, a baby will soon arrive. But the woman did not begin at the peak of labor and “push”. The labor became, “more and more” until the time arrived for the baby to be born.

So as the sun rises each day, I look to the day that the Son of God will rise. The Heavens tell of His Glory. He will come again. I will watch the sunrise. It is a picture of His return. The true Sonrise.