There's Joy in the Morning

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

(Psalm 30:5)

I’m sure that I have stirred God’s anger plenty of times in my life. Enough so that I know I deserved him to immediately toss me into hell. He has even protected me when, as a younger man, I would do something idiotic and dangerous that could have cost me my life. I have a feeling I’m not alone in that department. Young people do stupid things because they feel invincible. God has much more patience with me than I deserve and more than I sometime show others. I presume it’s not much different for you also. But fortunately for me, his anger is brief, and his patience seems to have no end, although I know it does.

I have also had times of great sorrow and shed many tears. Even though those times seemed to take forever to get past, I know they weren’t that long in reality. Grief seems to stretch time out, making it feel like time is slowing down. There were times I would lash out at God for a loss I was experiencing, like it was somehow his fault. However, through all those tears, all that sorrow, all that anguish, all that anger, he gave me much greater joy when all was over and done than I had before. That’s one of the great mysteries of his love. If you keep your faith in him through whatever trouble you face, he will be faithful to give you even greater joy than before.

He indulges me with his favor when I least deserve it. What awesome blessings he bestows on me, the greatest of which is an eternity spent with him. I am waiting patiently for that Day when Christ returns for his Church. With that said, I will never forget that he is always there even in times of great sadness. It’s likely that at times my burdens will be great and last a seemingly long time but if I keep my trust and joy in the Lord he will be faithful to bring me through! How privileged I am to be called a child of God, once I submitted my life to the lordship of Christ. I hope you are also a child of God. If you are not yet, comment below and I will help you.

Heavenly Father, you are long suffering and patient beyond all human measure. When we let you down and fall into sinful behavior, your anger is short lived, even when our offenses are great. You forgive us when we don’t deserve it. We are weak, like little children and our tears flow like a river, when we try to go through our trials all alone. By contrast, when we keep our faith in you, we can be assured that you will wipe our tears and restore our joy. Our sufferings are like enduring a long dark night, but your relief brings the light of a joyous day to our troubled souls. You are an ever-present help in our anguish. Keep us focused on a future breakthrough and not the present tribulation. Thank you for standing with us in our times of sorrow and distress. Thank you for being there when we emerge from that time and flooding our hearts with rejoicing. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!