When I was in graduate school I was an assistant basketball coach at the college I had attended. We were on our way home one night after an out of state game as we crossed the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina we found ourselves snow bound at the top of a mountain in over a foot of snow. It was bizarre because there was no snow at the bottom. We found a small roadside motel that looked like a place where they make movies with guys named "Bates" in it, but they had enough rooms for us and so we checked in. There wasn't a restraunt, so we emptied all of money into the vending machines had a short snow ball fight and went to bed. The next morning when we woke up and looked out the back window it was amazing to see the valley right behind the motel that we hadn't even known was there the night before covered in nearly two feet of perfectly, unblemished snow. It was magnificent! I still remember how can anything as bad as an unexpected snow storm that leaves you stranded create anything so beautiful. What an incredible difference a night made! It wasn't long before the plows came over the mountain and we were able to return to campus, but I still remember the difference in the feeling of going to sleep not knowing how long we would be stranded, versus waking up to the absolute beauty of the morning.
Wouldn't it be wondeful if life change in critical areas of our life happened overnight. How many nights have you gone to bed, just praying that things would be different in the morning? Would you be ready for everything to be o.k. in the morning or would you be as shocked as I was at the beauty that lay just behind that old hotel. In Psalm 90 the writer asks God for a break. He wants him to take away the pain and have compassion. Have you ever cried, "enough Lord?"
Psalm 9013 Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble."
The Psalmist asked more good days that would match bad years. Bad stuff is going to happen. There are going to be unexpected storms that interupt our plans for life. God loves us in the midst of the storm. Sometimes when you look just behind your unfortunate circumstances, he'll reveal a beautiful painting. Sometimes it will happen so fast that you can't believe that it is real, even though you have been praying for that very thing for years. Life change seldom happens over night, but joy does come on that morning of change! I know it does because as a parent I am living in the joy of this moment in time!
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