Around Midnight and 5:00 AM
Published Mar 26, 2024
By Gaye Lindfors
We read this in Acts 16:25 …
“Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God [from prison], and the other prisoners were listening.”
Here’s what my version might look like …
“Around 5:00 am, Gaye was fretting and whining her worries to God [from the comfort of her cozy chair], and the people were not listening because he was still sleeping.”
Yeah. You’ve had one of those mornings too, right?
When I wake up with a heavy heart and swirling chaos on my mind, the reason is usually behind one of these doors:
#1. It’s a mess that stays in my line of sight no matter which way my head is turned.
#2. It’s a consuming worry and all my energy is wrapped around a problem I can’t control or fix.
#3. It’s a feeling of being lost, not knowing where to go or what to do next, so I keep going in circles.
Which door would open to your worries today?”
This morning, mine were behind Door #2.
I was worried about the health of friends, illnesses that linger, hard decisions that need to be made in caregiving moments. Caring for those whose health journey is tough, and for those caring for them. Wishing that life could be easier for all of them.
I lay in bed and swirled and fretted quietly, and eventually realized that I was choosing a really unhelpful, stupid way to address the worries. So I got up.
My fretting continued in my cozy chair until I stopped and asked God for encouragement. I needed to remember the promises He’s made, and I know He’ll keep. I asked Him to show up miraculously for people I care about.
He took me to Isaiah 40. OH! YES! Just what my heart and brain needed.
Let me share this with you, OK? (And please, please, please find a few moments today to open your Bible and read these words out loud. There is power in reading them and in saying them out loud.)
Verse 26 “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens; Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. [He never overlooks a single one.]”
Noted! This is a really big God.
Verse 27 brought me the conviction and reminder I needed … why do I ever think that fretting and whining are the appropriate responses to my turmoil? Good grief.
“O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? Have you never heard? Have you never understood? …”
And then. The promise. From the Promise Keeper.
Oh, friend, lean in and read these words. Really read them …
Verse 28: “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
Isaiah brings us the encouragement today. I’m so grateful!
Whether your worries are behind Door #1, #2, or #3, these words are for YOU.
May you read the words – say the words – and discover that fretting and whining are replaced with HOPE and PEACE.
Our God doesn’t come and go. He doesn’t quit. God stays!” (Verse 28 MSG)
