03/11/2024 – Joy Comes with the Morning
Psalm 30:5 NLT
5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.
Since March 2020, approximately 7.6 billion individuals’ lives have been affected in some way by what we know now as COVID-19. To this day, individuals are still being affected by this life-threatening disease that destroys families and takes lives. One thing is for certain in regard to this: weeping has been more prevalent within the past 18 months than joy.
In the book of James, James suggests something that, at first glance, does not make any sense to our physical senses.
James 1:2 2 Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.
Consider it an opportunity for great joy when troubles of ANY kind come my way? How is that even possible? Can that even be true? What does that even look like?
The New Testament explains to us how the Holy Spirit dwells in us when we accept our Lord Jesus in our hearts and when we belong to Christ Jesus our flesh is crucified with its passions and desires, and we live by the Spirit. When we wholeheartedly want to have a relationship with God, our fleshly desires and passions do not compare to what the Holy Spirit has to offer.
In Galatians 5, we learn that there are 9 fruit of the Spirit for those that truly believe in Christ and one of those fruit is joy. As believers draw closer to Him during every circumstance, joy will be evidently present through the Spirit.
It is incredibly satisfying to acknowledge that we believe in a God that provides us joy in moments of darkness. No other person or thing could offer such a truth. There will always be moments of darkness in the journey of life that we live but we can rest assured that God will graciously and unendingly provide joy.
Are you going through a moment of darkness right now? I pray that you may find that joy that only God can provide and encourage you to rest in the truth that there will be joy in the morning.