One encouragement came unexpectedly. About a week ago, I went to a local store that sells letters. I wanted to put a word on the wall above my desk as a reminder. The clerk at the counter told me they didn’t stock the whole alphabet in all available styles for obvious reasons so I had to order them. After settling on the design from their online catalog, he asked which letters I wanted. I said, “P, R, A, Y.”
He said, “As unto the Lord?”
I replied, “Yes, I need all the reminders and encouragement I can get to keep at it.”
He was a Christian. We had a good conversation about God and about prayer. He said helpful things to me including one that rang in my ears all week, “Remember, it always seems darkest before dawn.”
A cliché perhaps, but God used it to encourage me. Then in today’s devotional reading He gives me the same message from His Word.
Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:4–5)I can praise God, for several reasons. These verses say that He eventually brings joy after a tough spell, but they also say that God is holy. That means there is no mean streak in Him. The negative stuff that happens in my life are tools in His hands for my good.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. . . . (Romans 8:28–29, italics for emphasis)God’s plan is that I am like Jesus. Knowing that helps me trust Him and be much more cooperative when bad news and battles come my way.
Sometimes though, as suggested in Psalm 30, God is angry. I know that sin in my life is the only possible cause. He is angry that I should let it in, when in Christ He has given me all that I need to overcome it. Yet even with this, His anger does not last very long. He also provided forgiveness and cleansing from sin, so when I confess it to Him, He is faithful to keep those promises. This is also because of the saving work of His Son, Jesus Christ. I am His child, a saint of God because of Jesus.
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Lord, weeping, even confusion and a sense of darkness might hang around for a little while, but You are a God of good news, joy, clarity and light. You want me to walk with You knowing that when the sense of Your goodness and presence is missing, “this too shall pass.” Faith believes what You say, regardless of circumstances that seem to say otherwise. While I do not yet perceive dawn’s first glow, Your joy hovers at the edges of my troubles anyway. It reminds me of the difference between what is now and what is forever. For that and for Jesus, I sing praises to You and give thanks.
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