Arise and shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord h
as risen upon you! This ringing call to action was given to the people of Israel to rebuild the city. (Is 60:1) It was time to get up – and shine.
For too long the people had become used to living among the ruins, now was the time to get up and focus on what could be rather than what was or even had been. Too often we become used to living among the ruins. They may be our own personal ruins or the broader aspects of society or state that affect us all.
Are there ruins that you are content to live amongst? Perhaps the ruins of broken relationships; career or business failure; lost opportunities academically or on the sporting field; or as the result of some other set of events or circumstances. Maybe you have just got used to the rubble of the past and have become content to sit amongst it. Sometimes you will push it aside or arrange it into neat little heaps, but still it remains. It is time to get up from the ruins because the glory of the Lord has come upon you. God has a plan and purpose for you, but first you have to get up and look around. Once you do get up, you can look around, form a plan and start to clean up the mess. I was recently impacted by vision of government and church leaders in Jakarta with brooms in their hands. They were cleaning away the rubbish in preparation to establish a city built for God’s glory. What a powerful picture. Isaiah 62:10 calls the people to clear the way, remove the rubbish for the new city. In the same manner, God calls us to clear the way for him to come and establish a city which will welcome him.
For many of us though, we have to start much closer to home. Are there ruins in our own lives that need to be removed? Have we hung on the disappointments and failures of past so that we have become content to live among them? Then it is time to get up and clear away the mess. Start by establishing a perimeter of faith around your home. Look around, are their ruins there? Is your present reality determined by the events of the past? Clear them away, change your thinking, establish a new set of behaviours.
Once you are satisfied that the rubble is cleared from your own backyard, then move to your neighbourhood, then your community, to your city and your nation and beyond. Take back what the enemy has stolen and disfigured one step at a time. When the rubble is cleared away you can start to build something new. But to do that you need a plan. How will know how to build unless you have a plan to follow? Have a vision for yourself, your family, your neighbourhood and your city and commit to implementing it. Every time you build, raise a standard. Declare who you are, become a signal to those around so that they know where to come in their time of need.
As your standard rises high above the places you build, people will gather to you – your sons and your daughters will come to you (Isaiah 60:4). This is God’s promise; don’t be content to live among the ruins:
Get up
Clean up the mess
Build something new
Raise a flag
And People will come to you!
Richard W.Foster 