Bible Verses about Sunrise: Hope in a New Day
Is your daily life busy or overwhelming? Are you a hunter missing your time in the woods? My husband and I have both found spending time in nature helps us slow down and reset for the work week. We especially love getting up early and watching the sunrise. Often, when we quiet our thoughts, block out loud voices, and seek out peaceful places we can hear God better. Many Bible verses about sunrise or light will come to mind.
Your time in nature might look different than ours. Depending on where you are, that might be the woods, the beach, the mountains, or a great river nearby. Appreciating life through sunrises is something I wish everyone could enjoy. Because I’ve never heard anyone say “I regret going for a walk in the woods today” or “I wish I didn’t get up early to watch the sunrise.” Maybe you can find a place to hear God the following morning or the next day and reflect on a bible verse.
Living in West Michigan, we are more accustomed to watching the sunset over the water, than sunrise. But I grew up on the East Coast and often feel nostalgic for the ocean. As I write these words about the rising of the sun, I’m currently visiting Hilton Head, South Carolina, and catching as many mornings on the beach as possible.
Darkness Fades
It’s April, the First Day of the Week, and the sun is rising each day shortly after 7 am. I bike to the sand and waves from our condo and watch the dark blue fade away. In the New Testament, God reminds us of his presence with a bright morning star and a sliver of the moon.
The first evidence of sunrise is the slow arrival of lighter shades of blue. The shadowiness dwindles. The sun is not visible yet, but the color shift reminds me that it’s just below the horizon. The deep midnight blue becomes lighter and lighter with each passing minute.
“Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”
–Luke 11:36 NIV
Then, I begin to notice the details of the surface of the earth that slowly come into view. Each moment reveals more of our surroundings. The waves and waters of the sea glisten. The tips of the trees become golden. The tall grass comes to life with the sun and wind.
My thoughts shift to inspiration in a Bible verse about the glory of God, his faithfulness, and how he shows us his love in the light of early hours.
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
–Lamentations 3:22-24
Sunrise on the Coast
The waves crashing on the shoreline and the sounds of the seagulls flying above me are calming. I take it all in and wish that I could slow everything down. It seems to happen so fast. One minute the horizon is waiting, and the next, the sun is warming my face.
As I close my eyes and listen I’m reminded of a song that I danced to as a child. “Peer Gynt: Morning” by Edvard Grieg. It’s a lovely incidental piece of music that creates an atmosphere that reminds me of the scene before me—an arrangement of flutes, piccolo, oboes, clarinets, and strings. I return to the beach to witness the light of the morning every single day.
I want to remember these sunrises and bring them home with me. Photos and videos on my phone are the only ways I know how to capture them. But I wish I could fill up a bottle and bring them back to Michigan to relive each cloudless morning.
Bible Verse about Sunrise: God’s Creation
The colors of each sunrise are unique but familiar. The blues grow faint and vibrant hues of reds, oranges, and yellows rise from the horizon. They blend into an endless gradient and the tender mercy of our god is spread across the sky. As the colorful spectrum radiates in the host of heaven, it can feel as if we are watching God create the light of morning. Just like in the book of Genesis.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
– Genesis 1:31 (NIV)
Sunrise in the Woods
My husband, Scott, is an avid hunter. Each season he looks forward to his quiet time in the woods and the arrival of a new day. His view is very different from the coast. He’s immersed in dense forest, trees, and nature in the middle of Michigan.
He will talk about the arrival of daylight like it’s a gift. As he appreciates his point of view and absorbs every detail, I admire how his amazing way of observing things that others miss. Scott will often describe how it feels.
“It’s as if God flipped a switch and turned on the lights in a room. The deep darkness is finally gone and the light has won the battle in the sky,” says Scott. “The wilderness comes alive with each new day.”
The purples and pinks brighten the woods and allow Scott to search and begin his hunt. In Jeremiah 33:3, it says “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
New Beginnings Through the Trees
The trees offer protection from a full view of the sunrise. But they provide a different experience when you focus on the light shining through them. Each tree starts to dance with more definition. It’s impossible to count every branch on every tree. And that mathematical challenge becomes a symbol of the countless promises God has given us. I suddenly feel outnumbered and surrounded by his love.
“When I focus on each branch, I’m amazed at the detail God has immersed into his creation,” says Scott. “Each branch, every trunk, and all of his trees are unique. The dense and diverse forest is endless. It reminds me of the diversity of the world and God’s people.”
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
– Revelation 7:9 NIV
Promise of a New Day
Back on the beach, the sun continues to rise, and the colors continue to change. The reflections on the ocean grow stronger. The sand is holding large puddles of water left behind from high tide. They are smooth, calm and reflect the sky with perfection. I reflect on the words of Christ:
“…because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
– Luke 1:78-79 NIV
The Layers of the Skies
Another display of God’s glory is the wispy and wondrous clouds. They have many personalities and can be soft or fierce. I love the layers of textures they can add to the artwork in the sky. It feels like God’s painting a playground for our eyes to enjoy.
Silver linings are formed as the sun begins to bounce off the cloud edges. The clouds evolve into new shapes and are just as diverse as the trees. I want to untangle each formation and define them.
What would it feel like to be surrounded by the clouds? My questions grow and then I recognize that this curiosity is my longing to understand our Lord God.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
–2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)
Don’t Worry: Bible Verses about Sunrise
As time passes and the morning light continues in the woods, Scott describes how his eyes wander to different places in the woods as the early hours progress. He notices the sun rays start to reflect off the ground. “God is shining his spotlight onto the green grass of spring. Or the glitter and sparkle of fresh snow in the winter,” he shares.
The sun warms everything it touches. God’s grace is visible in every living thing. Suddenly, I draw a connection to why God designed us to see warm colors first. Each morning sun is a new beginning and a fresh start. He wants us to feel his love every day.
The warm tips of the trees begin to grow and soon they cast shadows along the ground. Low light on the horizon not only paints the sky but also beautiful patterns on the earth we walk. The long shadows remind me how far God’s love can reach. He offers his grace and he wants our worries of yesterday to fade away.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
–Matthew 6:34 NIV
Eyes Wide Open
God’s creation is all around us; we just have to pay attention. All we need to do is look up from our phones, computers, worries, and distractions. He gives us the gift of a beautiful sunrise and his endless canvas of the skies. God’s faithfulness is a promise for a new day and his everlasting love.
Each cloudless perspective is a unique sunrise. No two are alike. The time the sun rises is different. Your perspective and location might be different. The clouds are never the same. The atmosphere shifts from season to season. Spring has different bird sounds than the winter.
God is trying to get our attention through his beauty, his word, and Bible verses about sunrise. The symbolism of what light represents is not lost on me. Each morning brings hope of God’s promises and whatever you want to make of the day that God has given to you.
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
–Psalms 36:9 NIV
Every year, when Scott goes hunting he sends me picture after picture, day after day. His awareness and pull toward God’s beauty in the sky help me pause and slow down. I’ll often go to my window and see what I see. I compare his view in the photo he sends of the woods to my vantage point in our backyard.
God Talks to Us Through Nature
I know that nature calls Scott, but this is God calling him to slow down. To set a good example and leave some of the worries of life behind. It has become one of his many spiritual traditions. The arrival of daylight helps Scott forget about work, and his worries and just focus on God’s everlasting light. When we slow down the pace of our day, we give ourselves time and space to remember the name of the Lord.
I have always been drawn to water and can recall a time when we camped at Wilderness State Park, Michigan and I will never forget the views we had there. They were unmatched. The firmament of the heavens, the curve of the horizon, was visible because we had such a wide perspective of Lake Michigan on the edges.
Every sunrise also means there will be a setting sun. And I ache to be where the water meets the sky. That vivid memory of the scenes at Wilderness State Park is etched in my heart. I will never forget the celestial starry heavens when we were camping.
A Visible God
On a cloudy day, the sun’s rising is not the typical experience. Our field of vision is blocked. In those times, we need to use our memory. Imagine the sun rising behind the clouds and remember that God is still there. Even if we can’t see him, his good news continues to spread. He is steadfast. Just because we can’t see God, does not mean he’s left us. He’s still there for us.
God is omnipresent. At sunrise, every day. In nature all around us. Revealing himself on the canvas of creation. You might find that different Bible verses about sunrise come to mind. Pay attention to these prompts because God is speaking to you through his word.
