Psalm 30:5b “Weeping may stay overnight, but there is joy in the morning.”
We want God to fit the narrow confines of our personal
preferences for him, we want him to sit in the corner until we need him (cf.
Mark 4:38). But that is not the God of the Bible: He hears the oppressed cry
out and sends an amazing deliverance that ruins Egypt (Exodus 2:23-25); he sees
a woman struggling with life and relationships and sits by a well to talk
theology with her (John 4:7-26); he sees an educated man curious about God's
ways and astounds him with ideas from above (John 3:1-15); he meets a shepherd
in a bush that burns but isn't destroyed (Exodus 3:1-6); he meets a
persecutor/oppressor on the road with a brilliant light and vision (Acts 9:1-6); he comes to scared people at dinner and speaks peace to them (John 20:19-23); he naps on a boat assailed by a storm and when awakened cares for the needs of
the alarmed sailors (Mark 4:35-41).
Jesus had a knack for seeing what others often ignored. The overlooked and often dispossessed were the very people with whom Jesus regularly visited and for whom Jesus still cares. Are we feeling invisible? Are we feeling ignored? There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. . . and we are called to imitate him.
He is the God who suffers . . . he is not so aloof as to
fail to understand our suffering. No matter how dark our Gethsemane, the Light
of the world is there. He suffered outside the city, alone, forgotten, with a
sense of utter abandonment . . . and he knows. He knows we are weary, he knows
we are "fed up," he knows we are lower than we have ever been . . .
and he cares. Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. May
the God of peace soon crush Satan beneath our feet . . . (Romans 16:20)
Thanks for reading!
