Weeping is only for a night

Have you ever felt like your world is crumbling?  Have you ever felt like the bottom has fallen out and you are left dangling in mid-air?  You are not alone, even though that may be your feelings.  You are not alone.  Thousands of years ago, there lived a man named David who could relate to what you are going through.  He was persecuted, in despair, pressed and endured hardships.  Yet, he leaves us with an encouragement in the Psalms.

In chapter 30 of the Psalms, he extols the praises of the Lord.  He recognizes that it was the Lord who was responsible for his help.  The Lord healed him. The Lord kept him alive.  The Lord favored him.  He was able to recount the goodness of God and encourages us to give thanks at the remembrance of His Holy name. 

David tells us from his own life that our mourning is not forever. It has an end and soon joy will come in the morning.  Do you feel like your night is stretching into forever?  Look up and see the hand of God.  You only have to endure for a moment.  Soon enough, you will be dancing, clothed with gladness and singing praises.

My friends, I do not know what you are facing right now, but I believe that God can do for you as he did for David.  He is a God who answers prayers; seek His face for yourself and see his goodness.  Then you too shall join us in our songs of praise “Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good!”

 

 

Don't Quit. Endure.

Jesus endured the cross for us.  The bible says he was beaten and bruised.  He was spat on, laughed at, jeered, mocked, nailed to a cross and pierced in his side.  He endured all of that, choosing not to quit; suffering long so we could join him in the victorious end. 


What does that have to do with us? Don't you see?  We also need to endure.  Don't quit.  Let me be transparent; I am one of those people who complain to God often in my prayer time.  When I say often, I mean more times than I think is really warranted.  I do that usually because I am going through some kind of hardship, difficult circumstances, unpleasantness, pain, sorrow or any other name you could think of right now.  You might say that I would love to have a "That was easy" button for my life.  I would like my life to be Utopia-like.  In reality I know that this is not what God has planned. He said in His very word that in this life you will have troubles.  In this life, rain falls on the just and the unjust.  In this life, Christians are not trouble exempt.  We don't have a registered Heaven number that causes struggles to pass on to the other person.  As Christians we have our day of sorrow but with a twist.  We endure with the help of our Lord.  God told Joshua, be courageous and strong for I am with you, (Joshua 1:9).  He had to fight, but God wanted him to endure. not quit.


What does endure mean exactly?  I had to think about that for more than a second.  I really was not able to put together a definition so I did what you might have already done.  I googled it.  Endure means to suffer patiently.  It is to remain in existence; last.  It is synonymous with words like persevere, survive and persist.  Did you see that?  Suffer?  Patiently?  I can see when Jesus said not my will Lord, but thine be done.  How else will he be able to suffer patiently?  Yet, he did.  He endured, lasted, persevered and persisted in his obedience to the cross, grave and to the sky.


Let us do likewise and endure to the end.  We know even now that all that we go through is for a good end.  So let us not quit but endure to the victory of tomorrow.