WATCHING WITH THE NIGHT WATCHER
C.S. Lewis said, “God whispers in our joy but sounds a megaphone in our pain.”
My middle name is Joyce, probably given to me by the aunt who helped lead me to the LORD. She and my uncle had no children of their own, but she enjoyed naming others. This aunt and uncle always called me Joyce. Some of my grandkids call me Momma Joy. I’ve been provoked to ponder, where does my Joy REALLY come from?
Just a few weeks ago we celebrated Easter and Passover. In Exodus 12:42, Moses writes, “It was a night of watching by The LORD…this same night is a night of watching kept to The LORD by all His people…throughout their generations.” God wanted Israel to remember her deliverance. God wants the same for believers today, which is why we celebrate communion once a month. God has me such that daily I find myself giving thanks for my redemption from the slave market of sin.
Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but JOY comes with the morning. We find ourselves struggling with loss, disappointments, short comings, pain, acceptance, habitual sin, and the list could go on. These have usually brought me to a place of more intimacy with God.
Larry Crabb says that we try and use God as a vending machine, “We walk away from God as soon as we get the desired treat. We focus on the treat rather than on the Giver of the treat.” God says that we’re to have no other gods before Him, yet we have many gods that we run to.
David Powlison calls them idols of the heart. “Idols define good and evil in ways contrary to God’s definitions. They establish a focus of control that is earthbound.” God’s covenant with us is for His own name’s sake. Ezekiel 36:32. God pursues us as Hosea pursued his wayward wife. Our hardships and difficulties in life are to bring us to a point of truly hungering after God and His ways as His Own Possession. Crabb says that” God wants to intoxicate us with His presence.” I love being intoxicated with God amid all that He brings our way. According to Dan Allender, in his book, “to be told”, “God has allowed us to participate in writing our redemptive story in the genealogy of His grace.” During those nights of watching and waiting, God Almighty is watching with us and desires that we be intoxicated with His Presence.
My middle name is Joyce, probably given to me by the aunt who helped lead me to the LORD. She and my uncle had no children of their own, but she enjoyed naming others. This aunt and uncle always called me Joyce. Some of my grandkids call me Momma Joy. I’ve been provoked to ponder, where does my Joy REALLY come from?
Just a few weeks ago we celebrated Easter and Passover. In Exodus 12:42, Moses writes, “It was a night of watching by The LORD…this same night is a night of watching kept to The LORD by all His people…throughout their generations.” God wanted Israel to remember her deliverance. God wants the same for believers today, which is why we celebrate communion once a month. God has me such that daily I find myself giving thanks for my redemption from the slave market of sin.
Psalm 30:5 says, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but JOY comes with the morning. We find ourselves struggling with loss, disappointments, short comings, pain, acceptance, habitual sin, and the list could go on. These have usually brought me to a place of more intimacy with God.
Larry Crabb says that we try and use God as a vending machine, “We walk away from God as soon as we get the desired treat. We focus on the treat rather than on the Giver of the treat.” God says that we’re to have no other gods before Him, yet we have many gods that we run to.
David Powlison calls them idols of the heart. “Idols define good and evil in ways contrary to God’s definitions. They establish a focus of control that is earthbound.” God’s covenant with us is for His own name’s sake. Ezekiel 36:32. God pursues us as Hosea pursued his wayward wife. Our hardships and difficulties in life are to bring us to a point of truly hungering after God and His ways as His Own Possession. Crabb says that” God wants to intoxicate us with His presence.” I love being intoxicated with God amid all that He brings our way. According to Dan Allender, in his book, “to be told”, “God has allowed us to participate in writing our redemptive story in the genealogy of His grace.” During those nights of watching and waiting, God Almighty is watching with us and desires that we be intoxicated with His Presence.
by Wanda Williams, Women's Ministry Team Chair
Posted in Faith Blogs
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