Isaiah 60:1 - "Rise"

I woke up this morning with the song "Rise" that Danny Gokey sings going through my mind. Specifically these words...

So rise
Breaking the dark, piercing the night
You're made to shine
An army of hope
Bringing the world
A radiant light
A radiant light
You were made to rise, rise

Danny Gokey wrote this song after going through a dark time in his life. He did not understand why the Lord was allowing him to go through such turmoil but finally realized he needed to 'rise' about it. The song is based on Isaiah 60:1. Matthew Henry writes about this verse: "And if God's glory is seen upon us to our honour, we ought, not only with our lips, but in our lives, to return its praise." Praising the Lord enables us to 'rise' up against the tough times that come our way. Today marks the twenty-third anniversary of my diagnosis of MS. Wow, God has been great many times over these last twenty-three years as He enabled me to 'rise' above the obstacles of MS. He also was awesome when He enabled me to 'rise' above the obstacle of breast cancer last fall. Today is the anniversary of my Daddy's funeral and God enabled me to 'rise' over him leaving this earth. Many times over He has enabled me to 'rise' over hard circumstances. He encourages me to shine for Him so He will be glorified in all I do. I am so grateful for that encouragement. Yesterday morning He prepared me with the song "Tears" when I woke up. Yes, there were a lot of 'tears' for various reasons yesterday yet He continued to encourage me to keep on shining for Him. Today has started out to not be what we planned but I am praying He will be glorified in our words and actions. 

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for yesterday's encouragement. Lord, with the plans changed already this morning we need to feel You in a great way. We need to be encouraged. Father, go before Doc today and make his path to be exactly what You desire. Selfishly I would like to pray for it to be easy but Lord I just pray for Your will for his day. Be a constant reminder to him that You are His strength. I pray He will feel Your loving arms around him in such a way that He will know he is not alone. Thank You for whatever comes of this day for him. Lord, I also pray for You to be my words, actions and attitude throughout this day. Give me wisdom on how to love on him and others throughout this day. Thank You Jesus for being The One To Make Me Shine. Amen.