"Joy"

 I don’t know if it happened,

Not really, anyway,

Maybe it was just a dream,

But I have to say,

I thought I saw the Savior,

A horseback cross the fields,

And I rode out to meet Him,

He brought with Him the yields,

Of harvest when the Spirit,

Moved in people’s hearts,

Like a long rainbow of color,

Like a cloud with many parts.

And as He rode up to me,

He pointed to the cloud,

And asked me if I heard them,

You see they weren’t too loud.

And then I listened carefully,

As Jesus smiled right there,

I looked into the rainbows,

And heard voices everywhere.

They were laughing, they were singing,

And it was then I knew,

That these had long been weeping,

But they were given joy anew.

The broken and the hopeless,

The lost and lonely souls,

All played among the rainbows,

Where no earthly pain controls.

But only by the Spirit,

The people moved and praised,

And it was His own joyfulness,

From their despair He raised.

They followed after Jesus,

Like a long and flowing train,

And I knew I was seeing,

The joy that to them came.

And then He left the pasture,

With the rainbow cloud behind,

And I was left there horseback,

With a new peace in my mind.

Weeping may last longer,

Than you ever thought it would,

And maybe your old hopelessness,

Stayed longer than it should.

But joy comes in the morning,

It’s real and it is true,

And not just for the others,

It’s coming soon for you.

“…Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning…” (Psalm 30:5, NLT)

We’ve all endured long, hopeless nights that seemed endless. We’ve carried burdens, been disappointed, and wondered if life would ever change. We’ve cried till we could cry no more, and felt the emptiness of not knowing what to do. The Psalmist felt this way, but added what he had learned. Joy comes! It will not always feel like it does now. The pain is great, but God’s joy is greater, and it’s coming. It comes to us as a gift that we cannot manufacture. We simply know we’re going to be all right, and the assurance becomes strong enough to actually believe it. Your night may have lasted a long time. But God’s joy is on the way. It’s stronger than your despair. Believe it.

Lord, give us Your joy, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Jason Rich, jasonrichstudios.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Jason, and God bless you.