For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.
– Psalm 30:5
I like the account of the wedding (fictional, I’m sure) where the groom demonstrates an unusual level of honesty. The minister, asking the couple to declare their intent, asks the groom, “Will you have this woman for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health?” The man responds, “Yes, no, yes, no, no, yes.” That about sums up our attitude toward life. The good times are enthusiastically welcomed, but we would surely pass on the bad times if we had the choice.
The Bible says there is a time for everything, even a time for weeping (Ecclesiastes 3). God has appointed that this life includes joy and sorrow. Job had to remind his wife of this. “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10). We are not promised a life free of sorrow. However, we are offered perspective. “God’s anger is but for a moment; His favor for life. Weeping endures for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Though we may find ourselves in the midst of a dark night, we can be assured that the dawn is coming.
Even knowing that, seasons of suffering are still difficult—sometimes painfully. The prominent pastor H. Beecher Hicks, preaching after the death of his own mother, reflected on Psalm 30:5 by asking, “How long the night?” Good question, Pastor Hicks. Many who are traveling their dark night of the soul are asking the same question. It would be great to know that we are in the last hour before the dawn. Hope could carry us through an hour, but is there enough hope to carry me through if the night is just getting started? Therein lies the struggle. We just don’t know.
I have had experiences, both work and personal, that required me to endure through nights. It may have been long hours behind a steering wheel, whether in a truck or car. At times it was working all night as a hospital chaplain. I know what it is like to get well into the night and begin to feel weary. Eyes look to the eastern horizon for first signs of hope that dawn is arriving. The night can wear you down.
How long is the night? Pastor Hicks proposes an answer: “Not long.” In terms of hours, days or months, I can’t say. In God’s paradigm a day is like a thousand years (2 Peter 3:8). God may not give us the number of hours or months until the dawn. What He does give is perspective. Compared to the daytime of His joy, the night of weeping is brief. Not only that, the joy of his daytime far surpasses in magnitude any sorrow we feel. The apostle Paul wrote (Romans 8:18), “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
It’s all about perspective. The night is brief and mild compared to the length and magnitude of God’s day. Keep hope alive; the dawn is coming. Thanks be to God.
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me
The Winding Path 