The God of joy - Joy comes in the morning

    While thinking of what to write for this blog, I pulled up a song that had been shared with me some time ago. It’s entitled “Joy Comes In The Morning” sung by Martha Borg. I had actually heard it earlier in the day and felt led to play it again … on repeat! At some point I realised that it fell within my theme for this month - the God of Joy.
    The first verse of the song says:
    Tears often fall on my face in sorrow
    And as I walk on through the long, lonely nights
    Often I cry when it seems no one hears me
    Then through the shadows I can see the dawning of light
Can you relate? We have all faced challenging seasons. During those times, we may have often felt as if there was no way out, that we would die right there in that wilderness. And maybe in those down times of discouragement and despair, we may have cried out to God: “God how long? God when?” You may have felt as if you were in a pit with a lid on it that you couldn’t push out of the way to allow you to escape. This paints a pretty discouraging picture but maybe you can understand. Yet, this verse ends on words that suggest hope and the possibility that you are going to make it out. 
    But the chorus of this song is what touches me. 
    Hold on my child joy comes in the morning
    Weeping only lasts for the night
    Hold on my child joy comes in the morning
    The darkest hour means dawn is just in sight
It means that no matter how dark things look, when God is in that cave, that valley, that dark place with you, you will make it! God is not standing by watching you suffer and be in distress. Rather, He is right there with you. He’s actually giving you the comfort and strength and grace you need to endure. Yes, He will bring you out in His time, but just know that the darkest part of your story will also be your most powerful.
    Jesus’ victory would not have been impactful if He had not gone through death and a brief time in hell. His victory was meaningful because He didn’t stay where He was, He broke out of that dark place. It could not hold Him down. It could not keep Him back. It could not stop Him from fulfilling His purpose for coming to this earth. In fact, that was exactly His purpose - to conquer death, hell and the grave and to offer us eternal life!
    In Psalm 30:5 we read these powerful words: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Interestingly, when we look at the first three verses of that Psalm, the psalmist is giving thanks and praise to God for what He has done for him: He did not allow his enemies to rejoice over him, He healed him, He delivered him from death and hell. He also reminds us at the beginning of verse 5 that God’s anger is but for a moment and His favour is for a lifetime. The final lines in verse 5 sum it all up as a reminder to us that no matter what we are going through and how long it takes for deliverance to come, negative situations don’t last because God will always come through for us, specifically for those of us who choose to put our trust in Him. 
    The night truly doesn’t last, neither do trials. Just as morning surely comes without fail or delay, just so your deliverance will come. It’s about having hope in the God of joy who will never leave you nor forsake you when you are going through difficult situations; the God of joy who will give you grace as needed; the God of joy who will rescue you. It’s about His timing, His way of delivering, His way of bringing His own Word to pass. Just trust Him.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. The God of joy will come through for you. He will not leave you hopeless or helpless. At the right time, the light of hope will burst through your darkness and bring the deliverance you need. Be encouraged.

---