FAIR AS THE MOON, CLEAR AS THE SUN

Last night I was captivated by the beauty of the moon. I kept finding myself amazed at the crisp beauty in the sky. The moon hung so magnificently in the dark sky, and the light shined radiantly over the hills and through the streets. Only a few wispy clouds wrapped themselves around her as if to gird her up on her journey through the night sky.

Scripture began to whisper over my heart and tears came unexpectedly…

“Who is she who looks forth as the morning, FAIR AS THE MOON, clear as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?” Song of (Solomon 6:10)

I was in the process of admiring God’s beauty and His WORD began to speak over me… “Who is she who looks forth as the dawn, FAIR AS THE MOON…”

Could He truly think of me this way? So often, when I reach to embrace God’s love, I find myself with so much less than what I hoped to bring back to my heart… not because He short changes me, but because I am not able to receive the fullness of what He SPEAKS over me. If only I could BELIEVE He loves me as much as His sripture says… If only I could take words of such POETIC GLORY and attach them to my heart in the same way I attach notes to the door of my refrigerator.

But somehow this night was different than the others. HIS LOVE began to trickle into the hungry cracks of my heart in unexpected sweetness as I looked toward the moon and admired the beauty of His Creation… His whispers continued to echo, “ …FAIR AS THE MOON.”

The moon is a rock with no life or beauty of its own. It has rugged edges and big, empty, uneven holes. It has no atmosphere to sustain warmth or maintain its own temperature… there is no color or beauty, just gray dust. Yet, He calls this strange rock FAIR and ELEGANT. In His eyes it is a beauty.

The clarity and fairness of the moon is nothing more than a reflection of the light of the sun. And even more captivating is that this lump of dust GOVERNS the night by shining light into the dark earth.

These qualities filled my mind as I let His WORDS trickle deeper and deeper, and slowly I became aware of HOW MUCH I truly am like the moon.

I am a lump of dust. Uneven holes and deep cavities fill my life. Unless the light of His passionate love shines on me, I am shrouded in darkness and there is no beauty, life or purpose for my existence. Unless HIS LOVE continuously warms me, I will FREEZE because I have no ability to grab His LIGHT and hold it within my own little atmosphere of existence. And here I stand, in the midst of HIS LOVE, nothing more than a lump of dust, but FAIR, CRISP and GLORIOUS IN THE DARKNESS. I am saturated with His light, and the darkness of this world is interrupted by His fiery passion as it reflects off the jagged edges of this dusty flesh. Even the shadows of the night turn into beautiful shades of blue as I position myself under His gaze.

This revelation is not only for me... He is speaking to all of those WHO LOVE HIM and stand in His light. He calls us FAIR AS THE MOON.

God is an ALL CONSUMING FIRE. Like the sun He rages in fiery explosions of love as thoughts toward humanity fill His mind. The darkness of this world sometimes makes it hard to discern the fire of HIS LOVE, but just like the sun disappears for a short moment over the horizon and then returns the next morning, JESUS will come to us. We are in the NIGHT as we wait for Him to break forth over the horizon of this age to bathe the earth with HIS TRUTH. Those WHO LOVE HIM shine like the moon to govern this night season. Our lives of devotion and love toward Him are a sign and a beacon of hope in the ever increasing darkness of this world. So let us shine… clear as the sun, FAIR AS THE MOON, and as awesome as an army with banners as we declare HIS LOVE FOR US.

(shred of my journal 2012)

Jill Soto