Which side of the "but" are you on?

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"Weeping may endure for a night,....... but joy cometh........... in the morning." ~ Ps 30:5.

Weeping may last.... it may lodge.... it may stop over..... it may abide.... it may remain.... it may dwell.... it may tarry...... it may continue

for a night....

BUT!...

JOY COMETH!!!!

As encouraging as that verse can be, the hard part is not knowing how long "night" is....... and our quick want is to be on the right side of the "but"!

We hate the weeping, the bewailing, the tears, the lamenting. We're anxious for morning. We long for joy to hurry in its come! It's agonizing to be left for too long on the left side of the "but"...... We like hard things to hurry on its way. We don't like them. And when they don't, it's quickly discouraging, it's despairing, it's depressing.... it's a hard pit to linger in for too long.

I told God just the other day that, "Sometimes, Lord, the season we're in feels more like a sentence we're serving, rather than a season of time on a Holy Heavenly calendar. We long to be paroled, God, to EOS (End of Sentence), and to be freed and released from its pain-filled prison."

And sometimes too? It seems as if we're ping-ponging back and forth, being smacked from the right side of the "but" to the left in only a matter of unforeseen seconds. We're teeter-tottering between the two, battling for the victory to settle on "but"'s right side.... but it isn't easy, because this world can be mean, the enemy's relentless, and every day life's a fight as it tries to keep you on the mourning side.

Knowing God's scripture, while you weep, you continue to hope in God's promise: "those who sow in tears WILL REAP songs of joy".... You believe it's fulfillment. You sow as hard and as sincerely and humbly as you've ever sown... looking and longing for your tears' harvest... the songs of JOY that's your for sure known and expected end. You hang on to its word, knowing that God is still (always is and always will be) a Giver of GOoD, and always, too, a Worker-Outer-for-GOoD-of-ALL-things for those that love Him. You're extremely thankful for each and every blessing... and your heart's greatest longing is for the Blesser Himself.... for in your circumstances you've never been more aware that it's Him and Him alone that is your greatest desire and greatest gift.

But still.... wow, sorrowful's or hard's season wants to rob you and totally deplete you of joy's strength. Again though, your encouragement lies in the "but"..... even while you still weep!
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