It’s five minute Friday, and it feels good to have a prompt to keep me thinking and writing. I’ve been so bogged down by stuff lately that I am finding this exercise in letting my mind wander appealing to my creative side. This week’s prompt is: Morning.

Go

This past fall and on into winter has proved challenging on so many levels of time, finances, relations, and spiritual encounters. It seems that all of the hard, challenging, stressful, and downright ugly news comes in the evenings. Waiting for difficult medical diagnoses, waiting for babies to be born, waiting to have critical conversations, waiting, waiting, patiently waiting. I tell my boys, “Life is all about hurry up and wait.”

In this season of lent, when we wait on the passion of Christ and follow his ministry from the countryside to the wilderness we see the agony and temptation that can’t escape anyone who sets their mind on working towards a purposeful life.

Each encounter of Jesus with the evil one was met with a scripture, a word written on the heart of Jesus, that he himself spoke into being. He modeled for us the very tools we can use to make it through the night. To cling to his word and never give up hope of seeing the joy come in the morning.

Before Jesus hung on the cross at the end of his ministry, he was once again left to himself, alone to face the temptation of leaving it all behind the easy way, of finding a way out of finishing the work, of rendering redemption meaningless.

But he didn’t do that. He faced his challenge head on and sweat great drops of blood. He was faithful to death, even death on a cross. He is my model, my victor, my hero. He is the reason I press on and wait for the morning in my challenges. I can pray with confidence knowing he went before me and made it through.

It was foretold that he would be forsaken, that God would turn away from him because of us, because of me. He knew it was coming because it is his word and he would fulfill its promise.

“Hosea said, “After two days he will revive us, on the third he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.” – Hosea 6:2

Our night isn’t fruitless, the sleeplessness, the wondering, the agony has purpose, it draws us to the comforter and promises us of his presence. All we need is in his word.

“Weeping my tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” – Psalm 50:5

So press on dear friend. Rush to be the first to discover the joy of an empty tomb, of promises kept, of good news. Press on through the night and cling to the joy giver. Your mourning is over.

Stop