As I was reading my devotional from the 2016 Upper Room Disciplines today, I was reminded of the true message of the scripture found in Psalm 30:5, "...weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning". This made me realize that no matter how dark or painful the situation I (or you) may be facing, the dawn always follows the darkness of night.
The author of today's devotional states it so well, "Just as the sun slices through the darkness and offers the hope of the new day, the scripture announces God’s new thing. Circumstances will change; situations will grow better. The road from the darkness of pain to the brightness of joy may be longer than we desire. The important matter at hand is that we see the road and take the journey." It is hard for us to see the road ahead when we are in the midst of darkness. We seem to think that the darkness of our pain will continue to envelop us and we will never see the light of day, never see an end to our sorrow. My question to you is this, did you look back at a time in your life when it seemed that you would never recover from heartbreak, the death of a loved one, or maybe even a painful divorce? Did you look back and see where you are today as opposed to where you were in that moment? Have you noticed any change?
I'm not making light of the pain in any one's life. I just want to shed light on the fact that though it may seem never ending, there is always an end. You made it! You called out to God (even if you did it unconsciously) and he delivered you, he brought you through.
We do not have the power to heal our soul's wounds; we don't have the strength to lift ourselves out of the pit we sometimes dig for ourselves, but God does. He knows what you are going through, he knows what you are facing. All he wants is for you to call on him, to trust him to walk you through the journey you are facing and bring you into the light of dawn.
Yes, weeping may endure for a night, but, the joy that follows it is radiant and is a testament to your trust in God to see you through the pain into the light of a new radiant day. The devotional ends with these words, "As hard as it may be, we must carry our faith as a cherished seedling. We water it with our tears, fertilize it with our pain, and let the love of God shine on us as as we make the journey toward the dance of joy."
The cards below are a few in a stack that I made about a month ago. I did not realize until I was showing some of my cards, how the majority of them had the same theme - butterflies. How fitting for today's post, don't you think? The butterfly becomes a thing of beauty only after its metamorphosis from a caterpillar and shedding its chrysalis. The chrysalis is the dark, resting place of the caterpillar, but it sheds that darkness to become a beautiful, colorful, flying insect. We can (and will) become as beautiful as this when we learn to leave our darkness in the hands of our Master and allow him to guide us into the light and beauty of the life he's always known we would live.
