Bright Morning

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Good Morning, Lord

Verse of the Day: John 1:1&2, 14: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Memory verse: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Readings: EZEKIEL 40-41 2 PETER 3

Bright Morning

I have heard folks talk about the dark 'night of the soul' or a 'conflict of faith'. These may not mean the same for some but for today, while it is called today, let's look at the 'dark night' and then hope for a bright morning.

A 'dark night of the soul' is explained as such: 'one enters a period of profound loss of any spiritual contact'. It is a time in which a follower of Christ has lost the sense of God's presence. From my own personal experience this is a time when my own choices put a wall up between me and God-usually known as sin.

Some folks have ignored this time. They turn away and seek solace in earthly strength and earthly triumph. Tozer writes:

"It is impossible for them ever to know the morning because they will not endure the night", from the Book "I Talk Back to the Devil", pp. 80, 81.

If this is you, you have a chance as long as it is called 'today', to take God's hand and walk through the night and see the bright morning.

When I was Chaplain in a local hospital, I tried to be all things to all people. The first several years I listened to God and stayed prayed up and plugged in to His power. God, as He always does when we are obedient, sustained me. Then I started letting my guard down and the dark load started taking a toll. I witnessed or held the hands of over 1500 people as they crossed over from this life. I dealt with the staff and family after each the best I could. But eventually, when I was working of my own strength, the load was dark and deafening. That much darkness cannot be handled-ever-in human strength alone.

So, I left this ministry and escaped to the back of a tractor. I know the professionals will tell you differently, but this solitary work was pretty good therapy. It was me and God out there in the middle of the brush on some rocky hill where I could see for miles or down in the oil field where I could see the emptiness of it all.

I challenged the night by God's strength and leading. I committed to doing this devotional everyday. Read, pray, memorize, meditate-everyday. To hold my own feet to the fire, God challenged me to put it all out there to encourage others.

The bright morning for me has been a series of bright mornings. The trials are harder the more I listen to God and the darkness only rises up momentarily until my next confession to God.

As I get older, I bury my friends. I go through bunches of major surgeries. I lost a 19 year old son who was such a blessing from God. I have gone through eight weeks of radiation for cancer and there are some dark times-but the time of the darkness is only as long as my resistance to God's grace.(These were all after my dark night) The sooner I run to God, the quicker the sun rises again.

I know I don't know your story. I will say that the enemy always wants us to believe that our story is worse than the next person's. The enemy always is about our focus being on ourselves-not God.

"Forget about how bad you think things are and get in front of God...", this sounds like something a preacher would say. The point is that until we commit to our own proof before God-until we leave the 'self-absorbing thought life' behind for pursuit of God's kingdom- until we do the right thing-we will never see the bright morning.

But, when we do surrender, the sun rises in our lives. Clouds of trial and doubt and, yes, sin try our commitment. But returning to God's presence is hearing God's voice speak in complete love to our innermost self. Our souls are restored. In the midst of the worst, whatever it may be, the strength of our almighty God sustains us.

God is always with you-that cannot be denied as much as we argue. He is here. You cannot run Him off or insult Him enough to abandon you. These are earthly things. God's kingdom does not work that way. The distance between us and God is always how big we have made ourselves in our own minds. Remember what John the baptizer said:

"He must become greater; I must become less.”John 3:30

Become less and see the bright morning.

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Ephesians 5:14-For this reason He says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine [as dawn] upon you and give you light.”(Amplified Bible)

Your story may be terrible but it is never bigger than God's love and mercy and grace-never. I must say-these words do not mean anything is easy. It is work, hard work, sometimes really painful and dark--but we must keep returning to the presence of God. If we cast all our cares on Him and if we 'put on Jesus' God will give us all it takes to get out of our dark places and let us see more than victory in Him in the bright morning.

Commit-surrender-take up your cross-die to self-prove the enemy wrong. God is always right.

...because He loves us...

Father in Heaven,

I am only weak and troubled because I let myself be. Forgive me for this sin of self. Have mercy on me. Shine your light and I will follow.

Lord of light and all truth,

In the name of Christ Jesus my Lord,

Amen