ARISE AND SHINE, SISTERS!
LUKE 4:17-21
17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written: 18 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19 and that the time of the LORD ’s favor has come.” 20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
Right before Jesus’ public declaration of what he came to do, he had been in the wilderness for 40 days. The Spirit led Jesus into the unseen place of the wilderness where Satan tempted him and he defeated Satan. The next stop on God’s path for him- the synagogue in Galilee, where Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah an audacious prophecy of all the Messiah would do. Then Jesus fearlessly tells everyone present that the Scripture has been fulfilled this very day. In that moment, Jesus steps boldly into the spotlight and declares with confidence who he is and why he’s there. There is no turning back, no going into hiding, no changing his mind and slipping behind a curtain.
Sometimes, I think I’d rather stay in the unseen place of the wilderness than publicly and confidently declare how God is working in me and through me. It feels safer to just quietly serve and walk out my relationship with Jesus privately, with just a few people knowing the calling and passion God has put in my heart.
Jesus’ life rhythm was one of solitude with the Father and publicly living out God’s calling. Jesus has the same rhythm for us. He calls us to be alone with him and he calls us to courageously live out his calling before a dark and hurting world. We are out of balance if we try to live in only one of those rhythms. May we have Jesus’ courage to boldly and publicly pursue God’s calling for us before all those watching. Arise an shine, sisters!
