“Behold, I will do something new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:19
By: Jennifer Anderson
While watching a beautiful sunrise over the Colorado River in the Hill Country of Texas recently, I was delighted at the beauty of the morning sky. Still, I was disappointed that I didn’t have my camera with me to take a picture, and so I hurried inside to grab my camera. Once back inside, I found my camera and headed back outside. Of course, the sunrise was past its peak, but I stayed outside nevertheless. The beauty was over; the best part had passed, or so I thought.
A few minutes later, as I was taking in the moment, I was surprised to notice a “second sunrise” emerging in the sky–the sun now illuminating new parts of the clouds in a beautiful array of varied colors. A fresh beauty had come to replace the first, and I was there to experience it.
This “second sunrise” reminded me of the seasons of life. Seasons of chasing young children, moving houses, or changing jobs. Seasons of looking forward to a different stage of parenting, exciting upcoming trips to the mountains, the nostalgic anticipation of Christmas, and all that the holiday seasons bring.
However, these things, too, all come and then pass out of a present experience to a memory tucked away in the past.
As this exchange occurs, isn’t it easy to think that the beauty is over? The best part has come and gone?
But this second sunrise reminded me that God is always at work doing a new thing. A new season, yes, assuredly different than the first, but it contains God’s handiwork and beauty nonetheless. His mercy is new every morning, and His faithfulness endures to the next day and season. He is always at work in every “second sunrise” of life.
New beauties are just around the bend!
— November 23, 2023