Rise
Last Sunday, Lisa Hibbard stopped and asked to pray with me in the hallway just outside the cafe; as she was praying and listening, she told me that she was hearing the word “Rise”. I sat and listened and let the Holy Spirit minister to me, but when I heard that particular word, it was like it flashed with neon letters for a moment. As He does with so many other things, He immediately called to my mind something I love, in the Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises. In that film, Batman is at his lowest and most defeated point, but after facing death head-on and accepting that fear was something to be conquered, becomes an even more legendary figure, beyond anything he could have accomplished before.
That stuck in my mind, and I quietly moved on with the rest of the day. But that kept popping up, the word “Rise”. For the past few weeks, as an act of faith and something I felt was right, I have been reading and re-reading the story of the lame beggar at the Beautiful Gate, from Acts 3. The famous and bold declaration from Peter has the same word, and I have read and treasured this story for as long as I can remember:
“Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” (Acts 3:6)
Later on in the week, on Tuesday afternoon, I was reading through the selected passages from the One Year, and was drawn to this statement from David in Psalm 27, where he says,
“Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.” (Psalm 27:6)
Different word, same meaning and impact. It was yet another time where the word “rise” was consistently popping up. So, I decided that I would practice something that I had heard about, and determined that this word, Rise, was “my word” for 2021. Seeing it so often could not be a coincidence, but something the Lord was drawing to my attention.
This evening, I was sitting quietly, listening to anything else I might write down. I just keep hearing that word and synonymous words and ideas — all about rise. Not from my own effort or striving or doing the right thing or stressing about doing the right thing. I would just rest and the Lord would take me by the hand and raise me up; I will be exalted over my enemies. Because that will happen, I am only responsible for rejoicing, for sacrificing with joy and gratitude every day. It should be the first thing on my mind when I wake up, and the last thing when I go to sleep.Outside of that, I have no other expectations than to rest, and let the Lord work.
There was one more thing that came to mind, right before I stopped to start writing. It was something I said out loud, one final memory of why that line stuck into my brain. A text I read from my Dad woke it up even more…
It is one of the last scenes from the movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. When Optimus Prime is brought back from death and given an enormous boost of power (in the form of absurdly huge jet-pack gun-wings, which is one of my favorite things to ever happen), he dukes it out with a being called the Fallen.
There are a lot of explosions and screaming metal and fire, most of which comes from Optimus literally tearing the bad guy to pieces. The fight lasts all of fifteen seconds, the same powerful and terrifying villain having no hope at all.
Right after finishing the Fallen off by punching a hole in his chest (with a bunch of very Optimus grunts), he pronounces final judgement over the Enemy, totally humiliated and without a chance of recovery, crumbling into itty bitty pieces:
“I rise…you fall.”
Before I know it, it will be my turn to say that.
