Thoughts of a Sojourner

One of the Bible verses that I have focused on for the last 14 months is Psalm 30:5 – “Weeping may endure for a night, joy comes in the morning”. One of the truths of life is that every person will eventually experience a “night of weeping”. A night of weeping are normally brought on by life changing moments that can take us to a place of emotional pain, sadness, grieving, questioning of faith, depression and even physical illness. Of course all these elements of “weeping” I just listed are not a complete list because everyone’s experience is different and cannot be put in a box. The length of this “night” will vary from person to person so we must be careful trying to define for people how long these moments last. One of the things I learned on a personal level from experiencing my own night over this past year and two months is that part of getting back to the morning of joy is experiencing the night of weeping. It is part of the healing process. It gives opportunity to contemplate life. It helps us, if handled properly, to begin to discover the things that really matter in life. The experience of enduring the night, for me, helped me narrow down things that make life really matter and make life more enjoyable. It helped me discover that joy is truly found in the things that without the night of weeping that I may have continued to take for granted. The Bible tells us “not to despise the day of small things” (Zechariah 4:10). I believe that experiencing the weeping of the night has helped me appreciate the joy that I have rediscovered in the morning of life so much more. This joy has helped As I have entered this next phase of life and I believe have entered into the joy of the morning. I am under no illusion that some that read this blog and the ones that may know me on a personal level could and will think that I should remain longer in the night of weeping, but understand that we have absolutely no right to define anyone’s night of weeping. For me, I believe those that truly love you and want what’s best for you will always be happy if you are happy and those are the relationships that will endure and that really matter in life. I am so thankful for for the things that I am experiencing as this morning of joy has broken in my life. I discovered that it is ok to be genuinely happy about life and the future. I have seen my faith and love for the sovereignty of God where our life journey is concerned. I have found great comfort in the real realization that nothing that happens in our life is a surprise to God even though I will never be able to answer all the “why’s” concerning the things God has allowed to take place in my life. I have moved from a place of “Why God?” to a place of solitude and peace in God’s plan for my life – past, present and future. I have seen my desire to experience new and adventurous things in life. I have fallen in love with marking things off my bucket list where travel is concerned and experiencing places that are different and people that are different. I have learned to slow down the pace of my life while also staying busy with things that want to do rather than filling life with things that I think I have to do. One of my greatest joys, is experiencing the joy of God giving me a second chance to love in the realm of a relationship again. I believe God designed us to love and be in love. For some this is a one time experience and for others like myself, God has put it in my heart to find love again and I am thankful that He has moved this from a desire to a reality in my life. I am thankful for this second chance at love and look so forward to experiencing the development of this love. In closing, if you are currently in this night weeping hold on to the promise of Psalm 30:5 that this weeping is meant to only last for a night. Embrace it, learn from it and use it to learn about the things that really matter as your morning approaches and understand that morning will break! When it breaks, grab a hold on it live each day like it is a fresh new morning with new things to be embraced, enjoyed and discovered!