Psalm 30:5

For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.


As I start to write this morning, I am reminded that joy can come into our lives first thing in the morning. If we get up with a “cranky” attitude, then the rest of our day will result in that same attitude. Coffee is one of my favorite things, and that first cup of coffee in the morning is the jolt that I need to get going. If we incorporate our Bible reading into this time and get up just a few minutes earlier, we would have a much better perspective on how to approach the upcoming day. Like many of us, we get up hurried and that’s how the rest of our day seems to turn out and Satan has a much easier chance of jumping into our lives and adding much more chaos and calamity to our somewhat simple world.

I began to research the above passage in the NIV Study Bible, it first referred me to the verse 2:5, where it says, “anger, wrath; God’s anger is always an expression of his righteousness, 7:11 says, “every day, God’s judgments are not kept in store for some future day, and 4:1 also says, “very often the righteousness of God in the Psalms (and frequently in the OT) refers to the faithfulness in which he acts.” Verse 54:7 also says, “remain lit for a night.” Lit refers to “come in at evening to lodge”, the figure is that of a guest lodging for only one night.

Recently I watched a movie where a core sentence was used many times throughout, “finding our center”. How do we find our center? One of Dictionary.com definitions of center is: a point, place, person, etc. upon which interest emotion, etc., focuses. If you were to center on joy each day and use it as the focus of your day, how much of a difference would it make? A few days ago, I went to the Boy Scouts Store to purchase a new scout uniform for my son. An attendant at the store had the surname, Joy. As she began to help me with my purchase, I noticed a “spark or joy” in her body language as well as her delight to share with me in my area of questioning about why her Mother named her Joy. She said, “I was my Mother’s JOY.” Wow, how she must have felt to know that she was her Mother’s joy and it gave me the “gospel goose bumps” in remembering that we are also God’s joy. What a pleasure it was to meet JOY.

I have also met HOPE. Hope, a black cat, was awaiting adoption at PetSmart. She was a playful, seven year old, positioned in the top cage beside Patches. Hope and Patches both rallied for my affection, my touch and my fingers to play with. She wouldn’t let me see as much of her as Patches, but she would glance with one eye at me as if she were smiling and presenting a glimpse of what could be a sweet experience with her, but was reluctant to let me rub her for an extended time. Her information card read: Very loving, affectionate, and has been waiting for a loving home for a long time. Hope had been waiting a long time…….is that how it is for many of us? Hope has been waiting for a long time and we are now receiving a glimpse of what God has promised us for some time, in his perfect timing?

This morning as I awoke to a marvelous landscape, the mountains of Asheville, NC. I can see how beautifully alive God’s creations are. I can see why Billy Graham loves this area so much. It’s God Country. The air is crisp and clean, the scenery is grand and luxurious. I stare in amazement of the wonders that only God could have created. Each mountain is placed with precision nestled amongst another, just as we are placed in specific places at different times of our lives. God has a perfect plan for everything, if we are faithful in our decision to follow him and leave our lives in his hands.

My prayer for you today is that you look at the wonders of God’s creations and become childlike again to his HOPE and JOY that continue to bless each of us.