Joy in the Morning

Amy and I went to our friends' daughter's graduation party this weekend. Like the rest of us, they and their friends and family are dealing with the "social distancing" and the consequences of that. As people came through and talked, a lot of the conversation was about getting back to life as normal and what normal will look like, but some of the conversation was just the frustration of all that we are missing out on and how it is affecting businesses, churches, families, etc. Emotions ran from hopeful to outrage, but this is normal for times of uncertainty.

I continually remind myself that God is in control. When I get bogged down in the conversations of masks, times and dates, and who is to blame, I get lost in my own frustration and fear. It's hard for me to keep perspective in all of this, and then a reminder comes.

"Weeping may spend the night,

but there is joy in the morning."

-Psalm 30:5

The night sometimes feels like it is FOREVER. There are nights I can't fall asleep. Nights my thoughts overwhelm me. It seems that there will never be morning, and yet it comes. I like David's picture here. No matter how long the weeping through the night might be, the dawn is inevitable and with the dawn- joy.

It feels like we are in the night. There is much weeping, but we can never forget that joy WILL come. The Lord will bring the dawn, and He will turn our "lament into dancing" and "remove our sackcloth and clothe us with gladness". (Psalm 30:11)

I look forward to that day where as David says, "I can sing to You and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever."

So don't lose hope. Watch for the morning, and the joy of the Lord.

Doug