“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
Isaiah 60:1
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you."
Written in Exile
This verse comes from a time way before Jesus was born, but it calls forward to the time of Jesus' life and beyond. Isaiah, known as a major prophet, not because he is more important than the other prophets, but because his book is longer than the other prophet books, tells us to arise, to shine, and we can do that because our light has come. The light that Isaiah is referring to here is Jesus. Jesus has come, which means that we are able to arise and shine ourselves.
Here I'm thinking that arise really means, not necessarily from death, but from despair and depression, because here Isaiah is writing during a time of exile where the people of Israel are not in their homeland. They're in a foreign land, so there's not a whole lot of hope. There's more despair than there is hope. Isaiah is telling them to arise out of that hopeless situation and to shine, to be the light of the world as Jesus calls us to today. Why is that? Because the glory of the Lord rises upon you, Isaiah says. Just like Jesus is the light to come, Jesus is also the glory of the Lord that is rising upon us.
Joy Is a Choice
How can we apply this to our lives? Well, take hope in Jesus! Have joy. Joy is a choice. It is not just an emotion. Joy is not necessarily happiness, but joy is seeing a situation through the eyes of Jesus. We can have terrible circumstances and terrible situations happening to us, but having joy helps us see those situations through a different light. I encourage you to take some time and reflect, to spend some time with Jesus and think about your situations, good and bad, and see how you can bring joy into those situations.
Prayer
Jesus, thank you for your joy! Thank you that you have come. Thank you that you are the glory of the Lord and you are rising upon us. Help me to find joy in each and every situation and circumstance that I face throughout the day. I pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.