Tuesday, October 29, 2013

In the night

I am reading 1Kings 3 as I prepare my sermon for youth tomorrow night. As I dove a little deeper into the passage and read through Matthew Henry's commentary, I came across this amazing little insight to verse 5, when the Lord comes to Solomon at night.


"The more we abound in God’s work the more comfort we may expect in him; if the day has been busy for him, the night will be easy in him. Silence and retirement befriend our communion with God. His kindest visits are often in the night,"

In this passage, "night" is literal. It's dark, it's quiet, it's peaceful at the place where Solomon offered sacrifices. But I can't help but think that this can mean so much more. We use night to describe our darkest moments at times. If we read this commentary in that mind set, what encouragement we can find! Sometimes, it's in our darkest, hardest moments that we actually are quiet enough to hear the voice of God speak to us in ways that we would never have heard otherwise. 

Whatever you are walking through at the moment, I challenge you to get quiet before the Lord. Let Him speak into your night and bring guidance, encouragement, peace, hope, and direction to your situation. Don't get bogged down by the trial, either. Find ways to continue to be faithful to God and serve Him. He is so faithful to meet with us. Prepare your meeting place and your heart for an encounter with the Creator of the universe. He longs for it. He desires to bring you rest and comfort.