Europe is experiencing a cold snap this week. When you get chilled to the bone, you can forget what it feels like to lie under the sun in summertime. You just know that it’s cold and you want it to stop.
We all know what it’s like to go through a difficult time – a winter season in life. To be human means that we experience suffering and pain. Some people suffer incredible loss. Others face chronic situations that never seem to get better. No one escapes the discomfort that comes from living in a fallen world.
Christians are not exempt from difficult times either. We wish we were. While we are new creatures and have been given a new identity in Jesus, we still live in the old world. We are still subject to suffering and pain…yet we have a hope. The Psalmist writes:
“Weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)
This Psalm is a testimony of sorts. The Psalmist begins by saying that God has healed and restored him. He is excited to worship God and invites others to sing praise to the Lord. Looking back, he thought his pain would never end, but in reality, God was working to save him.
This Psalm is not a denial of the pain and suffering that we go through or perhaps are going through right now. It offers hope that morning is coming – everything will be better in the light of day.
This is not a promise of an easy escape or instantaneous deliverance. Change doesn’t happen overnight. But it does testify that God is at work. At some point, there will be a sunrise and everything will look different. Night doesn’t last forever.
The Psalmist felt he was alone and forgotten. He cried out against God and began to wonder if God even cared. But he wasn’t forgotten and the pain didn’t go on forever. In the midst of our despair, we have hope that God is at work. Don’t let the darkness convince you there is no sun. Joy comes in the morning.
