Joy Comes in the Morning!

Have you ever had one of those nights where you couldn’t wait until the break of dawn?  I had one last night.  We had a great day and everything was going well until we were in bed for a while.  My wife fell asleep rather quickly and after reading a few chapters in a Clive Cussler book and in a devotional stashed by the side of my bed, I flipped off the lights, prayed for a few minutes and drifted off to slumber land.  Then about an hour and a half later I was awakened by my wife’s shaking of her arms.  This is normally a sign that she is getting cold so I turned up the temperature on her side of the electric blanket, snuggled under the covers and closed my eyes.

Well, the rise in the temperature didn’t help and the shaking continued, in fact, it increased.  So I prayed over her, flipped on the light and got up to tuck her in a little better and visually check on her.  She looked fine and even smiled some, so I knew that the shaking (caused by a condition that attaches itself to certain health issues such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other such problems) called Myoclonus was not actually bothering her.  But, it was bothering me as the whole bed would shake at times.

Now I know what you’re probably thinking… being from California I should be used to shaking beds (like in earthquakes… you don’t know how many comments I got like that when we lived in Oklahoma.  I think some people out of our state must believe that we have quakes on a daily basis!).  Anyway, this continued for an extended period of time.  She would calm down, I would get back in bed, turn off the lights and it would begin again!  Finally I laid on my back, more than slightly disgusted, and began to talk in earnest to God.  I had prayed over her and rebuked the symptoms and nothing seemed to be happening.  I whined to the Lord that I needed her to sleep comfortably so that I could get some rest.  (Probably a selfish prayer but I was getting to the end of my rope!) 

For a moment or two I finally laid there quietly and begin to think about the scripture in Psalm 30:5 where the Psalmist cries out to the Lord exclaiming “You’re anger lasts a little while, but your kindness (favor and goodness) lasts for a lifetime.  At night we may cry, but when morning comes we will celebrate.” (Contemporary English Version) When I finally got to thinking about His kindness, favor and goodness and that I would most likely be joyfully celebrating over Him in the morning, things began to change.  It wasn’t necessarily in her symptoms, but in my attitude.

I was able to stop thinking about “poor ole me” and began to dwell on Him!  I suddenly began to pray in the Spirit and after a while I found that I was uttering praises out of my lips into the darkness in the room.  After what seemed like a short time, I noticed that she and the bed were no longer shaking.  I was able to get out a few quiet words of thanks before I slipped off to sleep.  The next thing I knew, I rolled over and it was 7:30 and the light of the new morning was pushing through the slits in the closed blinds.  And even though I was still feeling pretty wiped out, I felt His joy as I pulled back my covers and got up.

Later on, after my study time in the Word, I went in to get my wife up and she was quite alert and even spoke to me as I helped her get ready for the day.  It was as if nothing had ever happened!  So, I can attest to the truth about joy and celebration coming in the morning – when you FINALLY turn your trust over to Him!

So I would encourage you, if you ever have a night like I had last night, that you get a lot smarter than I did, a lot faster than I did!  Know that what you’re experiencing at the moment will be short lived and that with the break of the new day will come a fresh serving of His kindness, favor and goodness.  And before you know it, you’ll find yourself celebrating with a joyful heart!  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What JOY am I expecting TO CELEBRATE IN THE MORNING?”