BIBLE PASSAGE:
“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”
(Psalm 30:5)
MEDITATION:
Have you ever had one of those days when you thought,
“I’ll be glad when I can get home, eat, and just go to bed”
You could be stressed from demands at work, weary from
trying to maintain things around the house, worried over
financial issues, depressed over the loss of a loved one, or
devastated over a child who has gone astray. Whatever the
issue, you know that while you are sleeping, you won’t be
thinking about the problems of the day.
After tossing and turning, you finally drift off to sleep, and
then it happens! You wake up in the middle of the night, and
the problems you thought were big during the day, become
enormous during the night. And once again you are tossing
and turning as you try to solve your issues…by yourself…in
the dark…alone…in the middle of the night.
If you were having issues with someone, you start thinking about
what you will say to them the next day. Then you assume how you
think they will respond and you plan your reply to their response.
You may be figuring out how you will resolve your current financial
crisis. You think about which debts are most important and which
debts will be paid first. You may even organize all of your debts in
your mind and think about how you can work part time in addition
to your normal job so you can achieve financial freedom from your
debts.
You could be wondering how you are going to continue life after losing
someone close to you. You start reflecting on the times you spent with
them and you recall how much they made you laugh, relax and just enjoy
being around them.
You remember the qualities you admired in them and it creates a void
that can only be understood by someone who has been, or is, where you
are. It can feel like the wind has been sucked out of you, and you are left
wondering about life without them.
No matter what issue you are dealing with, you are awake and the
clock is ticking. As each minute passes, you know you are losing out
on valuable sleep and much needed rest. You dread the next morning,
because you know you will be tired and sleepy, as you try to function
throughout the day.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could sleep through the night without having
your sleep interrupted. But instead, you find that your issues you tried
to forget, have been waiting for you to wake up in the night, so they can
return to your mind and cause more lost sleep.
God’s Word gives us a promise that no matter how big something seems
during the night, it will be better (or not as bad) when the morning comes.
Even though we are tired and sleepy, we can find some measure of joy when
we realize our problems have shrunk from the size they were during the dark
of night.
If you were having issues with another person, have you ever rehearsed
what you would say to them the next morning? However, in spite of all
your planning, it never works out the way you expected, does it? In fact,
the first time you see them, they might say something that totally disarms
you, and makes the problem seem smaller than it was originally.
You may have rehearsed a speech for your boss, but early
in the day he or she invites you to their office, and shares
some ideas they have for reducing your workload and stress.
If you have lost someone dear to you, someone may speak
to you with genuine compassion. It could be a close friend,
or someone you know but haven’t seen or spoken to in years,
or even a stranger.
You may have been totally devastated by a wayward child
and out of the blue you receive a phone call from them.
Even though you rehearsed the speech you planned to give
them, you put it on the shelf, because you are elated just to
hear their voice and to be able to talk with them again.
Some of these possibilities may not happen (or at least they
may not happen the next day), however when you are around
other folks (instead of being alone in the dark), your problems
can seem a little less severe. Even if you feel your problems are
still as big as they were at night, talking with trusted friends can
be good therapy during the day.
Sharing our concerns with others helps us to ‘vent’ some of
the emotional upheaval we are experiencing. It can provide
some measure of healing when we choose to voice our deep
concerns to others. Not only that, but might receive some
good, and desperately needed advice from them.
At any rate, when the morning comes, God may use another
person or a situation to give us some relief, which helps us to
get through the day. When we go to bed the next night, more
than likely we will sleep better since we lost sleep the night
before.
And, even if we wake up during the night, we may be able to
go back to sleep easier, rather than staying awake tossing and
turning as we try to analyze and resolve our problems.
If we look at the scriptures preceding Psalm 30:5, we can
see that prior to going to sleep there are things we need to
do, if we want to experience ‘joy in the morning’.
I will exalt you, Lord, for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Lord my God,
I called to you for help, and you healed me. You, Lord,
brought me up from the realm of the dead; you spared
me from going down to the pit. Sing the praises of the
Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name.
(Psalm 30:1-4)
We need to spend time in prayer; praising the Lord and
thanking Him for the times He has helped us in the past.
Whenever we pray in this manner we are communicating
to God that we love Him, we appreciate His involvement
in our lives, and we trust Him to be there for us in our
current situation.
It is difficult to thank God for His blessings while thinking about
our problems at the same time (one is good for us, the other is not).
When we depend on the Lord to help us, we can experience a new
calmness and peacefulness that is not there when being independent.
When we depend on the Lord, the times when we wake up during the
night, rather than spending a lot of time trying to resolve our issues,
we can remind ourselves that we are trusting the Lord to provide us
with exactly what we need, at just the right time.
When we give up our independence and rely on our faith
in God who loves us, we can awaken in the morning with
a joy and anticipation of what He will do for us during the
day.
When we give up our independence and rely on our faith
in God, we realize that thanking Him for the bad times
doesn’t mean we like them, it means we are acknowledging
that He is in control,
“always giving thanks to God the Father for
everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.”
(Ephesians 5:20)
Is it easy to thank God for the difficult times. No, it isn’t, but
that’s what He tells in His Word that we should do. When I’ve
thanked Him for unpleasant things, I’ve even included words
like,
“this doesn’t make sense to me Lord, but Your Word
tells me to do this, so I’m thanking You for these
difficult and unpleasant stressful times”
God doesn’t want us to carry our burdens alone.
He tells us,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest”.
(Matthew 11:28)
If we cannot trust Him with this promise, then how could
we ever trust Him with any of His other promises? When
He promises to ‘give us rest’, we can look forward to the
morning, in spite of the troubles we were thinking about
when we went to bed.
Two inhibitors to giving the Lord our burdens are:
(1) a desire to be in control
(2) a lack of trust and patience
God wants our dependence and not our independence; He
wants us to accept and trust His timetable instead of ours.
ACTION:
Are you struggling with some issue right now? Is it something
that keeps you awake at night? Do you want to find some relief,
and enjoy a night of rest? Are you willing to fully trust the Lord
to help you?
When you find yourself struggling with life’s challenges,
rather than stressing brain cells trying to resolve issues
in your own strength, spend time praying and thanking
God for the many times He has been with you in the past.
You will be thinking positive thoughts, instead of allowing
the evil one to magnify the negative ones you are having.
God loves you and wants what’s good for you, but Satan
hates you and wants to make your life miserable. God
understands you and cares about you as His child, but
Satan could care less about any issues you are having.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I praise You for being the God
of the universe. You created all things and only
through You are all things created. Thank You for
how You have been nearby to comfort and console
me in the past. I may have my own ideas of how to
deal with the problems I am facing, but I know Your
ways are better than mine. I trust You to give me rest
as I come to You with my weariness and my burdensome
issues. Your promises never fail. I ask You to help me
trust You more, so I can find joy in the morning.”
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