ONLY YOU CAN MAKE ME RISE AND SHINE.

ARISE, SHINE, FOR YOUR LIGHT HAS COME, AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD RISES UPON YOU. — ISAIAH 60:1

You say, “Rise.” You say, “Shine.”  

But right now, I’m just not feeling it. Oh Lord, how can I rise from such depths? How can I shine, when I feel so very dark? Sure, there are times when everything is light and luster, times when I nod my head in agreement. There are times when I feel your light beaming through me, your own words spilling out of my mouth to help others out of the pit. But, now isn’t that time.  

Right now, I’m the one in the pit.  

I’ve fallen into patterns of despair, anger, and joylessness. Right now, there is so much in me and around me that just feels dark. And the light at the end of this long tunnel seems to move further away the more I walk towards it. I’m frustrated, exhausted, and spread thin.

So, I’m asking you, O Lord, how can I be light? 

How can I rise and shine? You answer me always with your own words. Even now, they echo in my mind—true words I can only affirm in my mind. My heart is far from them. Yet, you remind me who you are—the God whose words call into existence things that are not there. You call Peter, that wavering wave walker, “the rock” on which you would build your church. And then, you make it so. You call a dead daughter “asleep,” and then you wake her up. You call your enemies “friends,” sinners “saints,” outsiders “beloved.” You decide what is. You make it so.

You alone have the power to create something from nothing.  

And, just as you called into that deep void, “Let there be light,” so I hear you whispering into my own depths those same words, “Let there be light.” They are words that only you can bring about. Even now you’re breaking through my false feelings with your truth.  

You give me your light. You say, “Shine.” 

You have said so, and so it must be. But only you can make it so, even today, even now. So, I will do the one simple thing that I can do: I will believe you. I will walk by faith, clinging to your words even when I don’t see it, especially when I don’t see it. 

O Lord, please make it so.

Amen.

Adapted from “Make it So” by Natalie Abbott.