My Dear Friends in the Faith:
The musical genius Ray Charles Robinson wrote a song years ago that had our nation dancing and clapping. He simply exclaimed with vigor and passion to the pulsating beat of the drums and the melodious music of the eighty-eight in front of him that the night time was the right time. On a solar note it happens when the sun stands still while the earth turns its back on the gleaming rays of that great cosmic ball of fire that keeps our universe filled with light only to find herself in a temporary moment of darkness. We call it night time. Yet, it happens to people every day while the sun is still shining. There are moments in life where we find ourselves in the dark and it is night time. Have you ever been there?
It happened to Mildred Adams on a clear day when there was not a cloud in the sky. Her oldest daughter NaTasha Arline dropped dead at Austin Middle School. No her daughter hadn't been sick or ill. The child had no former signs of any health problems at all. It happened to Jared Preston when he went to work one morning as usual, sat at his desk and started to log on to the company's system so that he could get his day started, but his pass code no longer worked. He went to his manager’s office and they simply handed him a letter that said "you have been released from employment effectively immediately." And it happened to LaTisha Richardson of Houston, Texas last spring. The 28 year old mother of two thought that her marriage was doing just fine. But, her husband of just three years walked into the house late one evening and said "I do not want to be married anymore. I will send you some money for the kids."
Have you ever been there before? Have you ever seen night time? I know that you have. The question is what happened to you? Was it a death in your family? Was it a diagnosis that changed your life? Was it one of your children that caused your life to see heartache? Or, was it a failed test that you just knew that you could pass? As Christians we are not exempt from the dark moments of life. God decided that He would allow His children to see night time too. But, the great news of the day is this with God on our side He has a holy habit of turning our mid-nights into day! God is at His best when we are at our worst! And with Jesus Christ is on the scene the night time is the right time!
Listen to the words of the Psalmist as he exhorts us through the lyrics of a Hebrew hymn. He says, "For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalms 30:5, KJV).
Yes, there are moments in life that bring us to tears. And, nothing can do that like the night of life can. But, there is a way for you to endure your night time and cause it to be the right time! There is a way for you to take your tears from the dark and make them the joy of your day! According to the Word of God here is what you must know about the Lord in order for that to happen in your life.
You must know that His fury it temporary. The shouting news about moments like this in your life is this, it is not permanent! It is temporary. The passage says, "His anger endureth but a moment..." In the Jewish mind set when ever bad things happened to people they took that to mean that God was angry with them. But, that conclusion was not true. Bad things happen to both good and bad people. The difference is simply this, for those who believe in Jesus Christ what looks bad today will always end up good tomorrow because we love Him (Rom. 8:28)! Here's a wonderful devotional question for you. Have you ever endured a midnight moment in your life only to discover that you came out of the trial better off than you were before you went into it? If so, then you can openly testify that it is a temporary season and yes it may hurt you, but it is going to help you too! Here's some news that will bless and encourage you, what you are dealing with today is not going to last forever!!!
Secondly you must know that His favor is stationary. Okay let's be brutally honest for a moment. It's been happening for you all of your life and you know that it's true. God has been favoring you all of your days. Yes, you've been sick, but you lived to tell about it. Why? Favor! Yes, you have been down but you did not quit. Why? Favor! Yes, you've had some crazy things happen to you in your life. But, you did not crumble. Why? Favor! Yes, there have been moments in your life when it was dark and it was night time, but you have made it through it. Why? Favor! The favor of God has been working in your life all of your life! The verse says "His anger endureth but a moment. In His favor there is life." This is a horrible translation. It should read like this, "in His favor is my life." An even better way to translate this is to say "all of my life I have had His favor." When it's night time in your life you must know that heartache is temporary but God's favor is permanent. Praise the Lord for His favor, it has been with you all of your life! And for those reading this devotional right now who are enduring a midnight moment the reason you have not lost your mind is His favor!
And lastly you must know that His faithfulness is legendary. Please get this into your soul and plant it into your spirit. God is faithful and He is not going to let you down. The faithfulness of God is best seen when you are like Moses trapped at the Red Sea and have nowhere to turn and God shows up and causes you to walk across on dry land. God is at His best when you become the three Hebrew boys in a fiery furnace only to discover that in the midst of the flame stood the God who gave us fire! God is at His best when you are weeping. It is then that you discover that God takes tears and gives you a testimony. Listen to the words of the passage. "Weeping may endure for a night." In short, it should read like this you will have to cry sometime. "But, joy cometh in the morning!" This is a beautiful figure of speech here called an antithetical parallelism. Weeping is given the idea of night while joy connotes what comes in the morning. The idea behind it all is this. If you hold on long enough what used to make me cry will serve as the source of your joy. Now that sounds like God for real. He takes tears and makes joy!!!
The musical genius Ray Charles Robinson wrote a song years ago that had our nation dancing and clapping. He simply exclaimed with vigor and passion to the pulsating beat of the drums and the melodious music of the eighty-eight in front of him that the night time was the right time. On a solar note it happens when the sun stands still while the earth turns its back on the gleaming rays of that great cosmic ball of fire that keeps our universe filled with light only to find herself in a temporary moment of darkness. We call it night time. Yet, it happens to people every day while the sun is still shining. There are moments in life where we find ourselves in the dark and it is night time. Have you ever been there?
It happened to Mildred Adams on a clear day when there was not a cloud in the sky. Her oldest daughter NaTasha Arline dropped dead at Austin Middle School. No her daughter hadn't been sick or ill. The child had no former signs of any health problems at all. It happened to Jared Preston when he went to work one morning as usual, sat at his desk and started to log on to the company's system so that he could get his day started, but his pass code no longer worked. He went to his manager’s office and they simply handed him a letter that said "you have been released from employment effectively immediately." And it happened to LaTisha Richardson of Houston, Texas last spring. The 28 year old mother of two thought that her marriage was doing just fine. But, her husband of just three years walked into the house late one evening and said "I do not want to be married anymore. I will send you some money for the kids."
Have you ever been there before? Have you ever seen night time? I know that you have. The question is what happened to you? Was it a death in your family? Was it a diagnosis that changed your life? Was it one of your children that caused your life to see heartache? Or, was it a failed test that you just knew that you could pass? As Christians we are not exempt from the dark moments of life. God decided that He would allow His children to see night time too. But, the great news of the day is this with God on our side He has a holy habit of turning our mid-nights into day! God is at His best when we are at our worst! And with Jesus Christ is on the scene the night time is the right time!
Listen to the words of the Psalmist as he exhorts us through the lyrics of a Hebrew hymn. He says, "For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (Psalms 30:5, KJV).
Yes, there are moments in life that bring us to tears. And, nothing can do that like the night of life can. But, there is a way for you to endure your night time and cause it to be the right time! There is a way for you to take your tears from the dark and make them the joy of your day! According to the Word of God here is what you must know about the Lord in order for that to happen in your life.
You must know that His fury it temporary. The shouting news about moments like this in your life is this, it is not permanent! It is temporary. The passage says, "His anger endureth but a moment..." In the Jewish mind set when ever bad things happened to people they took that to mean that God was angry with them. But, that conclusion was not true. Bad things happen to both good and bad people. The difference is simply this, for those who believe in Jesus Christ what looks bad today will always end up good tomorrow because we love Him (Rom. 8:28)! Here's a wonderful devotional question for you. Have you ever endured a midnight moment in your life only to discover that you came out of the trial better off than you were before you went into it? If so, then you can openly testify that it is a temporary season and yes it may hurt you, but it is going to help you too! Here's some news that will bless and encourage you, what you are dealing with today is not going to last forever!!!
Secondly you must know that His favor is stationary. Okay let's be brutally honest for a moment. It's been happening for you all of your life and you know that it's true. God has been favoring you all of your days. Yes, you've been sick, but you lived to tell about it. Why? Favor! Yes, you have been down but you did not quit. Why? Favor! Yes, you've had some crazy things happen to you in your life. But, you did not crumble. Why? Favor! Yes, there have been moments in your life when it was dark and it was night time, but you have made it through it. Why? Favor! The favor of God has been working in your life all of your life! The verse says "His anger endureth but a moment. In His favor there is life." This is a horrible translation. It should read like this, "in His favor is my life." An even better way to translate this is to say "all of my life I have had His favor." When it's night time in your life you must know that heartache is temporary but God's favor is permanent. Praise the Lord for His favor, it has been with you all of your life! And for those reading this devotional right now who are enduring a midnight moment the reason you have not lost your mind is His favor!
And lastly you must know that His faithfulness is legendary. Please get this into your soul and plant it into your spirit. God is faithful and He is not going to let you down. The faithfulness of God is best seen when you are like Moses trapped at the Red Sea and have nowhere to turn and God shows up and causes you to walk across on dry land. God is at His best when you become the three Hebrew boys in a fiery furnace only to discover that in the midst of the flame stood the God who gave us fire! God is at His best when you are weeping. It is then that you discover that God takes tears and gives you a testimony. Listen to the words of the passage. "Weeping may endure for a night." In short, it should read like this you will have to cry sometime. "But, joy cometh in the morning!" This is a beautiful figure of speech here called an antithetical parallelism. Weeping is given the idea of night while joy connotes what comes in the morning. The idea behind it all is this. If you hold on long enough what used to make me cry will serve as the source of your joy. Now that sounds like God for real. He takes tears and makes joy!!!
Yes Ray Charles spent his life singing it. But many of us have spent our lives living it!! We have seen our fair share life at night time. But, God has been good and He has been faithful. And if you can say I am in a midnight moment of life right now remember this, keep holding on! The favor of God is with you and in the near future your tears of today will become your joy of tomorrow!
Your Friend and His Servant,
Dr. John R. Adolph, Pastor
Your Friend and His Servant,
Dr. John R. Adolph, Pastor
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