Night Seasons

Posted on May 9, 2012 | 3 comments

Sometimes, it’s dark.

Sometimes,
light eludes us,
understanding eludes us,
even hope eludes us.

Deep inside, we know God is there, we know He’s promised not to leave or forsake us, we know He is the light of the world.

…and yet the question sneaks in: even here, Lord?

The answer, I think, is especially here.

Last night as I read Psalm 55, verses 16 and 17 wound their way around my curiosity. They were words I’d read who-knows-how-many times, but there was something strange about them… what was it?

“But I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
Evening, morning and noon
I cry in distress,
and he hears my voice.”

 Evening, morning and noon. That was it. Not the familiar morning-noon-and-night sequence.

The Psalmist’s distress came at night. His entreaties to the Lord began in the night.

When
light eluded him,
understanding eluded him…
but hope did not elude him.

He knew that even there– especially there– it was the Lord who kept him from being swept away by despair. Instead, the despair drove him into the arms of his Lord.

…and then? After God had sustained him through the night? His prayers continued into the morning and even into the bright and shining noon.

Too often, I forget to lean on my Savior just as much in the morning and noon seasons as I did in the night seasons.

Today, whichever season you may be in, remember: He hears your voice.