The Faithful Sunrise

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."—Lamentations 3:22-23

(Easter sunrise at Greeley Farm, Wilton, New Hampshire)

Not every sunrise is sunny.

Like this morning in New England.

But it is always there.

And on this day of the greatest sunrise of them all,

Let it be a reminder that no matter what did or didn’t happen yesterday,

That was then, and this is glorious, hopeful now.

For all of even the weakest faith, His promise

Through every storm, every foggy path, is the same:

“Behold, I make all things new.”

That just as He came into the world with the promise of good news of great joy to all

He has conquered sin and the grave and

He is risen, just as He said.

And He has also fulfilled every promise, just as He said,

Even this one:

"And so He is able, now and always, to save those who come to God through Him, because He lives forever to plead with God for them.”—Hebrews 7:25

He’s always got our back.

We just need to take a step and come.

And no matter the weather

To remember the faithful sunrise,

And remember the faithful Son-rise.

And let praise arise:

GOD is able…God IS able…God is ABLE.

“I am not what I want to be but thanks be to God that I want to be better than I am; and I am sure that ‘He which hath begun a good work in [me] will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.’ Here I stand. I can do nothing else, so help me God.”—A.W. Tozer

Rock Music

Then some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “command your disciples to be quiet!” Jesus answered, “I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will start shouting.”—Luke 19:39-40, Good News Translation

Every time I picture being among the throng along the road to Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, men and women of every age and demographic are jostling for position, stepping on my toes, and shouting and dancing and laying down cloaks and branches in honor of the King in his humble procession—so loud and bold, in fact, that religious spirits tried (and still try) in vain to kill their heavenly sound. 

But now I wonder if that is an incomplete picture?

Because undoubtedly, as Jesus points out, also among that throng of bold enthusiasts are…rocks. Rocks do not sing. They cannot say a word, even if they wanted to. Like all of creation waiting for redemption from the curse of Eden, rocks groan. And yet it seems their praise to their Creator is applauded in heaven for its glorifying response, for doing only what rocks can do, not how beautifully or articulately they do it.

These aren't just the ones by the side of the road but the humankind rocks who, for one heavy reason or another, cannot sing along with the throng, or say a word even if they wanted to. They watch. They want to join in. But the momentary, bluesy weight of whatever-it-is-inside is suffocating, and the worst weight of all is wondering “what’s wrong with me?” when everyone else seems to be having no problem singing and saying lots of powerful words.

All that comes out is …rock music. Groans. Musical notes that have no words. A mixture of “oh” “mmmm” and their many-varied groaning cousins…

…In the middle of a wilderness string of days, while singing a significantly profound biblical declaration song that I had sung along to many times before, the words out of my mouth seemed to suddenly fall to the ground with a thud. My brain nodded yes to everything but for whatever reason from the beat-down of the day, my heart could not get in sync. The grandest of disconnects. 

And for a moment, the familiar words of Truth froze and all that came forth were…groans. Musical notes that had no words, just “woah” “Oh” and “ahhh.” Nonsense? Shouldn't I just stop and shut up? Except for some unearthly reason, with each groan, the heart began to climb out of its muck and mire and rejoice and agree in actual words once again with the Truth of the significantly profound biblical declaration song...

“…but the Spirit Himself knows our need and at the right time intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words. And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes before God on behalf of God’s people in accordance with God’s will. And we know with great confidence that God who is deeply concerned about us causes all things to work together as a plan for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.”—Romans 8:26-28, Amplified

I don't know how that all works, but it does, and He does, over and over again. It was also a reminder for the millionth time that real, raw worship isn’t dependent on feelings at all—whether life at the moment is on an exhilarating mountaintop, a chilled-out country road, or in a dry and thirsty desert—but on holding onto and believing in the One who hears and loves every full-throated voice, and even every groaning rock that cries out His Name.

Selah.

“The heart of God loves a persevering worshipper who, though overwhelmed by many troubles, is overwhelmed even more by the beauty of God.”—Matt Redman