Good Morning All,
Isaiah 26:9; “My soul yearns
for you in the night; my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. For when
your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn
righteousness.”
Did you ever watch a scary movie or read a
scary book when you were a child? How
did it go? I remember the first couple
of times I watched a scary movie; it was a Vincent Price one and I didn’t turn
the lights off for two nights. Every
noise made me jump. It is funny how the
night makes our fears alive. Here, in
the wintertime, a forced air furnace house will creak and crack each time the
furnace kicks on. During the daytime, we
hardly notice, but at night; it sounds like footsteps in the hall: it could be
an axe murderer!!
The night always brings about our greatest
fears. The sounds we hear but we don’t
know what made them; we can’t see them and make us wonder what is out
there. This is part of the reason why
the Bible always equates God with light and the devil with darkness. It is an analogy which we readily
understand. We can get lost in the dark,
very easily, and the darkness heightens our sense of loneliness. It is at night that we often struggle the
most.
It is at night that the “worries” strike
with a vengeance. How do we pay all
these bills? Why is my child struggling
in school all of a sudden? How do we fix
the car right now? What will I do if we
don’t get any more moisture this year than last? Why doesn’t my spouse love me like they used
to? My health, my parents’ health, my spouse’s
health just isn’t what it should be.
When the “worries” start, especially at night, the devil and our old
sinful nature loves to attack.
One thing about the devil, he knows no mercy,
nor does he ever show any. He sticks the
knife in, twists it about, pours salt on the wound and then he starts all over
again. This is what Isaiah was
experiencing when he wrote our verse. He
was prophesying the exile of Israel and was envisioning the destruction of the
city he loved, the death of many of the people he knew and the forced slavery
of the rest. He saw the pain, but he
also saw the better truth that God was there to rescue them.
God is here to rescue you as well. He comes to you in his Word, and he listens
to you in your prayers. The Spirit will
cause us to remember all the things which Jesus said to us. This is part of the reason why reading the
Bible regularly is so helpful. The Holy
Spirit uses those special passages to bring us comfort and to remind us of
where our hope comes from. God
encourages us to pray so that we can express our fears and our desires. So, when we face those nights or days filled
with the “worries” take a few minutes and yearn for God in the night. Look to him for your comfort and hope; don’t
look to yourself or any other worldly support.
Any other support will only fail.
Only God, whose love and mercy exceeds our every need can keep us safe
and give us peace.
Dear
Father, we yearn for your Holy Spirit to comfort us and give us peace. Keep us secure in your arms and give us your
peaceful rest which only you can deliver.
In Jesus’ precious name we pray.
Amen
God’s
Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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