The End of Night

"Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV

Morning:  The end of night, the coming of daylight, bright joy after a night of distress.

God's strong desire to help us is new at the end of every night.  How amazing is that?

You see, mercy, in the new testament, means, "a strong desire to help."  I've always thought of mercy as God throwing us a bone or being nice because he has to but it is so much more than that.  Mercy is God's desire to give aid - to us - every morning after every dark night.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day." - (Genesis 1:1-5 NIV)

I love that, from the beginning of creation, God spoke into being and created an amazing truth in our lives.  "And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day."  For every darkness, for every night, for time time in our lives that is hopeless and evil or obscured from God, there is morning coming!  God has spoken it into being from the foundation of the world.

Moses prayed in Psalms, "Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days." - (Psalm 90:13-14 NIV)

God saved Lot in the morning, Abraham stood before the Lord in the morning, God sent Moses to Pharaoh in the morning, and, in the morning, Jesus was not there - the tomb was empty!

Mercy was embodied when God sent His only son, Jesus, to earth, to live in our shoes and to die in our place.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - (John 3:16 NIV)  The pure, living form of God's lovingkindness (mercy means that, too) poured out on us.  

When Jesus was crucified darkness fell over the land and the earth quaked.  "From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice.... "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"" - (Matthew 27:45-46 NIV)  

Three days later, "As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him." - (Mark 16:5-6 NIV)

Jesus died in the midst of darkness devoid of God, feeling forsaken by God, to conquer darkness and death.  In His resurrection, He made a way for us to have new mercies each and every morning and a direct relationship with the God whose strong desire is to give us aid.  Morning light has dawned, incredible joy after a night of distress!

Prior to his death, Jesus quoted this verse from Isaiah when speaking about himself, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."  (Isaiah 9:2 NIV) (Matthew 4:16 NIV)

Throughout the old testament, God appeared in darkness or deep darkness.  (Exodus 20:18-21) The Hebrew words for darkness mean secret place, obscurity, and even thicker darkness.  Under the law, in the old testament - the Torah if you will - God was secretive and covered in obscurity and his presence caused fear and trembling - a terrifying encounter.  Only one man could stand before God and only once a year.  The "Most Holy Place" was separated by a veil - a curtain bigger and stronger than a wall. "But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance." - (Hebrews 9:7 NIV)

When Jesus was being crucified, darkness covered the earth for 3 hours and the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  (Mark 15:38 NIV)  

No longer was God veiled, no longer was God in the deep darkness, no longer was God terrifying and secret, no longer was God obscure. Jesus conquered death, overcame darkness, and became the way for us to know God.

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." - (Hebrews 6:19-20 NIV)

Jesus - our high priest - our way to God, our light in darkness.  (John 1) Our deliverance in the moments where God seems obscure and hard to see, our help in days that are so dark we feel like God is invisible, and our beautiful and promised morning that comes with His desire to love us in and out of whatever valley we are experiencing.

I love this description of God, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." - (1 John 1:5 NIV)   What a difference a morning makes!

"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." - (Hebrews 4:13-16 NIV)

"Let us approach.... with confidence..."  Wow.  What a difference a morning makes.

"But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."" - (Romans 10:8-13 NIV)

So it's really that simple.  Need a God who has a new strong desire to help you every morning? Confess with your mouth (say) that Jesus is lord (someone to whom you belong who has deciding power) and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. 

Or maybe you, like me, needed a reminder that God WANTS to help you EVERY morning.  He doesn't hold yesterday over your head.  Maybe you needed to know that you can enter God's presence with confidence and ask for mercy and grace.  "God, I thank you that you want to help me today regardless of how bad of a screw-up I was yesterday."

Maybe you needed to know that there IS going to be a MORNING.  A time of joy after sorrow, a time when God loves on you even if you feel like He is obsured from your view right now.

"....God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"" - (Hebrews 13:5-6 NIV)

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." - (Psalm 23:4 NIV)

God's strong desire is to help us in every time in our lives when we feel that God is obscure and far away. At the beginning of the world He spoke, "There was evening and there was morning," for each day that He created.  God has promised an end to every night that we experience and lovingkindness and mercy every morning.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."" - (Jeremiah 29:11-14 NIV)