THE PROMISE OF JOY

Scripture:  Psalms 30:5  " ... weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."

The worse dilemmas that we face in many cases are not the hard ones but the long ones.  It is not the dark moments that suddenly occur in our lives that challenge our souls but rather the long dark night seasons that seem to never end.  For example, giving birth is a very painful experience but not nearly as painful as a permanent disability or as challenging as a chronic illness that leaves you incapacitated for some length of time.  A significant financial crisis is hard to bear but it is not as rough as enduring years and years of financial lack, with seemly no hope for the future.  Likewise, experiencing a short period of extreme loneliness, depression, or emotional conflict does not compare to living in these dark places day after day, week after week, month after month, and sometimes year after year.  When we are going through these kinds of situations, we need a reminder or a word of hope that better times are promised and that joy will follow the difficult season at hand.

Through out the scriptures men faced dark and difficult seasons, but time always brought victory and joy.  Noah and his family escaped death, but their confinement in the ark had to be a trying time for all of them.  After God closed the door of the ark, there was no way for them to escape until He opened it again.  They were prisoners of the flood and the darkness that surrounded them.  But at the end, joy came as God made a promise to Noah and established His new covenant with him and sealed it with a rainbow.

Another example of victory and joy after a dark and difficult season is Jacob.  He was greatly afraid and distressed when he heard that his brother, Esau, was coming to meet him because years before Jacob had stolen Esau's birthright.  Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord all night long, but his joy came in the morning when the angel declared a blessing over him and his brother, Esau, received him in peace.  Daniel suffered in the lion's den for a night, but joy came in the morning as he gave great witness of God's protection.  Mary endured the pangs of childbirth, but when Jesus was born, the angels made an announcement to the shepherds in the fields, proclaiming good tidings of great joy.  God traded their tears, grief, and sorrows for His unspeakable joy and glory.

The Lord does the same for us.  God's Word says that He will never put more upon us than we can bear.  At some point, He will turn our captivity into a place of freedom and for all of the tears that we have sown, we will reap joy (Psalms 126:5-6).  Jesus has been anointed to "give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:3).  He will turn our sorrow into dancing again (Psalms 30:11).  And our "light affliction, which was for a moment will work in us a far more exceeding weight of glory" (II Corinthians 4:17).

These words are our promises from God, for He has good plans for us.  He holds our lives in His hands and in His time, the sun will rise, the morning light will appear, and darkness will flee.  The Lord will faithfully fulfill His promise of joy to us.  Our weeping may endure for a night, but our joy will come in the morning. +++