Sorrow may last for a night, But joy comes in the morning

The Scriptures tell us that rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), and whether that is rain on your parade, or the necessary rain on your crops, we all get a share of good and evil. The context of this morning’s verse from Psalm 30: 5b is of course, sorrow and difficulty and pain. The Lord underlined the truth of this verse for me at a dark time in my life. In fact it would get even darker, and at the very darkest time He connected this verse for me with the line from the ancient hymn “Oh joy that seeks me through the pain, I cannot ask to hide from thee, I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not in vain, that morn will tearless be!”

There are at least three advantages the Christian has, over the unbeliever. They are the principles and promises of His Word, and His Presence in our lives. All three of these give those who trust in Him, a sure hope. This is not a vague hope, as in “I hope it doesn’t rain!” Such a hope may or may not have a positive outcome. But the hope all which we speak is a certain hope, a living hope, the hope of an inheritance that does not fade away. This hope anchors our soul, and connects us, in a tangible way, to His presence. (Hebrews 6:19; 1 Peter 1:3, 4). The surety of this hope, enables us to stand in the face of what, without it, would surely devastate us. But as we stand by faith, and push through the pain knowing, as in the above hymn, that pain is a barrier, the other side of which is joy, then our anchor holds, and we obtain the grace to stand and having done all to stand.

No one is saying this is easy, but we grow stronger by overcoming. It is in the testing and the trials and the temptation that we know whether our faith is real or not. Do we really believe that joy will come in the morning? Or do we listen to the voice of the enemy that can come, even through those who love us. Was it not Job’s wife who told him to curse God and die (Job 2:9)? Will we believe and with Job reply “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity” (verse 10)? Remember that through all the pain, and the trials and the betrayals, Job could eventually say “I had only heard about You before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes” (Job 42:5). In other words through it all he had been drawn into the Presence behind the veil!

Father, it is by grace that we have been saved (Ephesians 2:8), is by grace that we stand (Romans 5:2), and it is by grace that we endure (Hebrews 4:16). So I want to thank You this morning Lord, for Your amazing Grace. Thank You too for your principles, your promises and Your Presence. I give you all the honour and glory and praise again this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen