You have no doubt noticed that whenever you experience pain or sickness, it most often seems worse at night. You are not alone. Job expressed the same consideration:
Job 30:17 (ESV) — 17 The night racks my bones, and the pain that gnaws me takes no rest.
After I had knee replacement surgery, I would be fine during the day, rehabbing and going about the business of the day never thinking about the pain, but at night it would awaken me as the pain seemed unbearable. Why is that? Probably because there is less to distract from the pain combined with the fact that your body and your mind have slowed down for sleep so it’s easier to slip into focusing on one thing, and its pain. The problem of pain at night, whether it is physical or emotional, is that it’s hard not to focus on it, and that makes it even worse. The key to bearing the pain or overcoming the despair of the pain at night is to focus on the morning and the prospects of a new day. David expressed it well in Psalm 30:
Psalm 30:5 (KJV) — 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
That is really the message of the Gospel that the Lord Jesus Christ brings in the brightness of a new day. By nature, we are not only in the dark, but we are darkness in the depravity of sin. We give into the lure of the world, we follow the passions of our flesh, and are locked onto the chain of Satan, himself.
Ephesians 2:1–3 (ESV) — 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
Because we were darkness and living in darkness, Jesus described why people in the darkness don’t even want to have anything to do with light.
John 3:19 (ESV) — 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
Thankfully that is not the end of the story, but as the psalmist says, weeping may endure for the night. Left to ourselves without God, there is much weeping as our lives go down farther and farther into darkness. Going back to Ephesians 2, there is hope in the next two words.
Ephesians 2:4 (ESV) — 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
“But God” is a mini version of the Gospel because it points to the message of grace in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ to save us, rather than pointing to man to make the change. Notice how the game changer, God, changes us from darkness to light, which is why the apostle Paul admonished believers to “walk in the light as children of light.”
Ephesians 2:4–7 (ESV) — 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Isaiah 42:6–7 (ESV) — 6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
Ephesians 5:8 (ESV) — 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
If God can bring us out of the darkness of sin and give us power to walk as children of light, then we can count on Him to see us through those dark nights of pain and despair and experience the dawn of His light, even in the middle of what is the night.
Micah 7:8 (ESV) — 8 Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.
Now that is precious – to go from sitting in darkness, which indicates despair and depression, to light! But it’s not an outside light, it’s the light of the presence of God. That is God’s doing. He is light and His presence brings light to the darkest situation.
Since it is God who is light, and who comes to us when we sit in darkness, then His presence cheers our soul as described in Romans 5:3-5.
Romans 5:3–5 (ESV) — 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Notice how He takes us through the process that begins with the darkness of suffering and goes through endurance, character, and hope. Look how God brings more and more light into the midst of the dark situation. Yes, the morning light begins to dawn in our experience as God uses the darkness of suffering to help us grow in endurance, character and hope. How? By the Spirit of God bringing the love of God into our hearts. This is light amid darkness. This is morning light dawning when we’ve been weeping all night. God has a way of applying the morning light that we naturally welcome when we’ve been sick or in pain overnight, so His love comes as a great light to conquer the darkness.
Psalm 30:5 (KJV) — 5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
1 John 1:5 (ESV) — 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
May God bless you to find Him to be your light – when you sit in darkness and experience the joy of the morning, and when you have been weeping through the night of experiencing the dark times in life.
Godspeed,
Bob Brubaker, Pastor
Christ Community Presbyterian Church
Clearwater, FL
