Isaiah 60:1-2 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
This well-known scripture is speaking about you and I today – the church, especially in the latter days.
The Lord wants you to see something – you don’t need faith for this because it's plain for everyone to see:
See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples,
Darkness doesn’t mean physical darkness, it relates to hopelessness, discouragement, and depression that covers the earth and minds of people. As the world becomes more and more troubled, fighting with one another through physical wars, trade wars, geographical wars; as people become more and more divided within cities politically and economically, this affects the global mood and people become discouraged and eventually lose all hope.
But the good news is:
but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
You have a choice, my friend. Are you going to get caught up in all the bickering and fighting in the world by taking sides, or are you going to look to your God of hope and allow His glory to rise upon you?
That’s what the Lord is saying in verse 1:
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
Let your light shine! Let the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, overflowing with hope (Romans 15:13). You cannot overflow with hope if you are lowering your eyes and only seeing what the world sees. Lift your eyes and look to Jesus. Look to His promises in His Word. These promises are for times like today. We were born for such a time as this and just like that great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us (Hebrews 11), now is your time to allow the glory of the Lord shine.
Go to hope. Go to faith. Go to love. Put your trust in the hope of God. Believe Him. Love the people of this world and show them God's loving-kindness and in turn, you will become attractive to others.
Grace is the Greek word “Charis” – where we get our word “charismatic” from. When the glory of God shines upon you, you will become so attractive and magnetic to those around you.
They are discouraged, you are full of courage. They are hopeless, you are full of hope. They are depressed, you are full of joy and peace.
Can you see why in the last days the House of God will be full – it's because what we possess is what the world is looking for. So arise, shine, the glory of the Lord has come!