"Night"

Looking back across the years,

Of smiles and laughter, sighs and tears,

I praise the Lord He took my fears,

Replaced them with His love.

And in the end when all is said,

My race is run, my body dead,

Because I’m washed in His blood red,

I’ll soar to God above.

Doesn’t matter what they say,

People finding fault alway,

But God still tells me I’m okay,

His cleansing I’ve received.

Not arrogance for me to say,

I live with His grace everyday,

And at His feet my burdens lay,

His promise I’ve believed.

Good-byes are often sad and long,

But when done right they are not wrong,

To those whose hearts still have a song,

The dark gives way to day.

The weeping may last all the night,

But darkness cannot quench the light,

And God says we will be all right,

Hear what He has to say.

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

Life can be terribly sad. Weeping is part of it because we must learn to grieve our losses. But verses like this tell us that grief will not have the last say. Weeping gives way to joy just as the night gives way to dawn. The assumption however is that we have a relationship with God that helps us. We put our burdens in His hands. We cry it out and pray it out and then let it go. He relieves the burdens and gives us joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit and is simply defined as consistent gladness of heart. That’s what’s coming if we trust the Lord.

Lord, replace our grief with joy, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Mary Ross Buccholz, maryrossbuccholz.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Mary, and God bless you.