Joy comes in the morning

1. Weeping — is associated with the night, while joy is associated with the morning.

2. Night — weeping is associated with the night, the word night represents life at its worst; it symbolizes God’s wrath and all of the adverse situations and circumstances that occur in our lives.

3. Joy — is associated with the morning.

4. Morning — represents life at its best, and it symbolizes God’s grace, God’s goodness, God’s mercy and all the blessings that come our way in the course of our lives.

It goes without my saying that a man or woman’s life is made up of both nights that are filled with tears and days that are filled with laughter. There are some nights that are characterized by pain, sorrow and sadness, and there are some mornings that are filled with mirth, merriment, happiness and the light.

In short, life, or shall we say, the Christian life, is not all weeping and it’s not all joy; it is a mixture of bitterness and sweetness. No matter how well we attempt to fortify ourselves against the nightfall, it is going to come in all of our lives.

No matter how many wholesome choices we make, the sun is going to set and the darkness is going to come.

Somebody said, “Into each life some rain must fall.” So, regardless of how we plan and structure our lives, we cannot escape the night and the weeping that goes with it.

Tommy Dorsey, a man who penned that beautiful song, “Precious Lord,” and many others, seems to realize that nightfall was inevitable. He wrote, “Through the storm, through the night,” but even through the night it was inevitable, that if we can just keep our eyes on the daybreak, we can endure.

Did you realize that making it through the night is a very serious problem for many of us, or should I say, most of us? Just surviving through the night is a king-sized problem for most of the world’s population. You see, the night represents all the evil, all the hatred, all the corruption and all the disappointment in our world. And if you concentrate on your nights all the time, you will soon be in a state of shock.

All around the world, humanity weeps over their nights that they must endure. Suicide has become an alarming response for people who cannot cope with their nights. We all cope with our nights in different ways. Some attempt to drown their sorrows and deaden their nights with alcohol or drugs. But when they sober up, they find that the night is still hanging over them like an oppressive cloud.

Some try to cover up their nights with the balm of materialism; they go shopping every time the pressure is on. But when the bills come in, their nights swiftly return and worsen.

What keeps us going today?

We believe that if we turn our eyes away from the enemy and “look unto the hills, from whence comes our help,” we will make it through the night until morning comes.

When the night falls on the oppressed, the enemy gloats at his victory and says, “I told you so!” When night falls on the oppressed, the enemy stands on the outskirts of our shame and waits to swoop like vultures to claim the leftovers.

We cannot fall trap to the orchestrated nights of our adversaries. We must stop dwelling on the edge of our nights and begin searching for our tomorrows.

Our nights have been long, and we have done much weeping. But there is a morning, who arise to greet the morning with the sun shining on our triumph!

The best example of midnights turned into mornings is found in the life of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus was arrested around midnight on Thursday and began a long night of pain and suffering. All night long, they falsely accused him. All night long, they whipped him and mocked. All night long, they spat upon him and called him everything but the son of God. His night continued through the painful reality of his execution on a cross, and his battle with Satan in hell for the keys to the kingdom.

But in the morning, Sunday morning, he reigned victoriously!

There was weeping on Calvary’s nightside, but there was joy in the morning!

There was disappointment and tragedy on Calvary’s nightside, but there was joy in the morning!

The hymn writer said, “We are often tossed and driven, on the restless seat of time, somber skies and howling tempests, oft succeed the bright sunshine, in that land of perfect day, when the mists have rolled away, we will understand it better by and by.”