I’ve been thinking about that this week, and it reminded me of a painting I have sitting on my dresser. The painting is a piece of prophetic art recently painted for me by another friend. This friend prayed for me and painted what she felt God gave her for me. This is the painting:

 My friend wrote on the back what she felt God was speaking to her in the process. “The word I heard for you was dawn. I felt God wanted to bless you with a picture of dawn… to remind you that night is only for a time… hope for the dawn.”

According to the dictionary, “dawn” has a number of definitions. We often think of “the first appearance of daylight in the morning”, but it also means “the beginning or rise of anything; advent” and “to begin to open or develop.” The word that strikes me most in those definitions is advent. We are only weeks away from the season of advent, a time of hope and expectation for promises fulfilled.

Yes, the past few months have been difficult, and I have spent time trying to find beauty in the midst of darkness, but sorrow’s time is limited. The dawn will come, and with it will come light, joy, hope and a different kind of beauty.

God’s glory and beauty can be seen in every season and circumstance we walk through. Dawn hasn’t come fully yet in my circumstances, and I am still seeing the beauty that the sunset brought with it. The clarity and vision that comes with the light hasn’t arrived; I don’t yet see where I’m going.

However, hope for the dawn is beginning to grow. I believe something will begin to open soon, and the appearance of those first rays of light will shine forth in the days to come. I don’t know what that light will illuminate or what the path ahead will look like, but I know that it will be filled with God’s presence, glory, beauty, joy and hope. I believe it will involve other people and new visions and dreams. I trust it will include promises and hopes fulfilled.

“Tears may flow in the night, but joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5 GNB)

Dawn is coming!