Brother Rodger Castle brought the message.
Psalm 30:5 For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
There are some people in the Bible who had some long nights, but joy did come in their morning.
Joseph was 17 years old. Out of jealously his brothers wanted to kill him. There are many in the world who’d like to kill you, to kill Christianity. They are against all it stands for. Joseph had done nothing wrong and had not been through anything like this before. One brother wouldn’t go along with killing him, so they sold him. They put blood on his garment and told his father he was dead. Joseph was on his way to Egypt to be sold into slavery. I can’t imagine his thoughts, but God was in it. Potiphar bought him. Because of his goodness, Joseph was put in charge of the household. Along comes Potiphar’s wife. The devil will always put somebody in your face to mess you up. She was after him, but he would have nothing to do with her. She lied and said he raped her. Next thing Joseph knows he’s in prison. While there, he interprets two dreams that come true. He told one man to remember him when he got out of prison. Two years later Pharaoh had a dream. That man remembered Joseph had told him the meaning of his own dream and informed the Pharaoh. Joseph was brought out of prison. He told them there would be a famine and that someone needed to be put in charge to prepare for it. After 13 years—a long night in prison—Joseph went from nobody to the second man in charge in Egypt. His morning came. During the famine his brothers came to buy grain. He told them they meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. The devil means to make a mess of our lives, but God turns things for good. We can praise him.
Israel was in captivity 400 years and was crying for deliverance. Moses was hidden in the bulrushes in order that he wouldn’t be killed and was found by the Pharaoh’s daughter. That was not a coincidence. God controlled it all. He will bring deliverance, maybe not on our time, but he knows we can hold on a little longer. At 80 years old, after all the plagues, Moses led a mass exodus out of the land of Egypt. The people were released. They wandered 40 years in the wilderness, but joy came at the entrance to Canaan.
God gave Noah a job to build a boat. He gave him all the directions. He and his sons gathered the materials and built for 120 years being ridiculed as they built. Just as morning was about to dawn, God called Noah and his family into the ark. They sat for seven days. Others would have had an opportunity to join them, but they refused. I’m sure people told them they were crazy just as they do us today. God shut the door. Raindrops began to fall. People wanted in then. In the ark of safety Noah and his family were at rest in peace. All other people perished and drowned.
Abraham was 75 years old when God gave him the promise of a great nation. His descendants would be as the stars of the heaven and the sands of the sea. Time went on and nothing happened. Imagine him lying in bed at night trying to figure out God. Sarah tried to help out and gave him her handmaid. We get into trouble when we try to help God out. He knows best. The result of that is trouble still today. One night, 25 years after the promise, it happened. We doubt God too much.
How long has your night been? Joy will come in the morning. When we get to glory there will be no night. We’ll never again deal with the devil. The three Hebrew children wouldn’t bow. They knew God could deliver them, but also decided that even if God chose not to, they would still not bow. Bound and put in a fire, they were joined by the fourth man, the Son of God. They walked around and out of that fire. I can’t tell you how or when, but you will walk out of your night.
God will not put more on us than we can bear. He never promised an easy life, but he did promise us heaven. Night is just about over. God will deliver. Whatever night you may be in, God is here if you need to pray.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 