06/07/2022
We sweat and toil in the light of day, and pray for the Lord’s hand to be upon us. We are heartbroken as we look down on the graves of our loved ones, and pray for God’s gentle embrace. We suffer the pain of wounds, or the discomfort of illness, and pray for our Father’s healing touch. Every day brings some concern, suffering, or trial, that leads us to pray, but for every hard day there comes a gentle night of rest… a time of peace, and the revelation of God’s wonder. We can’t see the stars and moon until the sun has set, and we can’t hear the song of night until the raucous uproar of day has subsided. Do we lift up our daily prayers and remain confident in them to bring us rest? God separates our days of tribulations with nights of stillness, and peace.
“But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,”
Job 35:10 ESV
When our days end, and night breezes cool the heat, our Father reveals to us that He is there, and in His peaceful stillness comes the revelation that He has heard our prayers, and that He is God. Our prayers lifted up in the day find their fulfillment in a heart fixed on Him, and the quiet peacefulness of a mind given over to His settling calm.
““Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”
Psalm 46:10-11 ESV
When the troubles of our day become intense, and our prayers turn into shouts, it is tempting to carry them into the nights that God has meant to be times of rest. We toss and turn in our discomfort, and our trust in Him gives way to anxiety. We lose sight of the peace God has for us, and our eyes dart to and fro searching blindly in the darkness for His awe and beauty that hovers just overhead in the glory of God’s firmament. We lose the stillness that night is meant to bring us.
““Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:34 ESV
For God to reveal Himself to us in the quiet times of our spirit, we must first learn to still ourselves. His gifts of peace and rest might come when He provides us an escape from our daily struggles, an end to our heartbreak and mourning, or He heals us, but quite often it comes by providing us a night in which to rest; a time of respite, and reprieve, from what we have been praying for so fervently. Too often we think of night as a fearful time, and that it surrounds us with danger, but it is meant to be a time of trust, rest, and peace, when God stands watch over us. It is only in these, our darkest hours, that we hear His small still voice whispering “Be still,” and the “songs in the night” are allowed to come to us.
“We must understand that for God to give “songs in the night,” He must first make it night.” - Nathaniel William Taylor
Hi
So we pray, and pray, during our days, but let’s not overlook the nights in which we dream, and find the peace and rest we need to face the next day. Don’t neglect to trust in God’s watchful eye in the night, and to let the sleep of a child come upon us. Tomorrow is another day in a chaotic world, but tonight is our time to lean back into His arms, and rest… tonight we find His peace, and fall asleep to his song.
“O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.”
Psalm 131:1-2 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for hearing our prayers during the daylight hours of our lives when our hearts, minds, and spirits, are actively engaged in the world, and we are accosted by its many troubles. Thank you too Lord for the nights when we trust in you to watch over us, calm our spirits, give us rest, and quiet our minds. Help us to be still and know that you are our God, and let us feel your loving embrace as we lean back into you like a child… finding pleasant dreams, and a peaceful sleep awaiting us there. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who divides the day from the night, and yet is with us always. Praised be your name in every storm we endure, and for every peaceful night in which you give us rest, reveal your wonders, and sooth us with dreams, songs, and gentle love. Merciful are you Father for the comfort in our nights that were once fraught with fear. Loving are you whose goodness has overcome the sin in our lives with the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of your Son Jesus. Hear this prayer today, and every prayer that we lift up to you. Let your grace pour from Jesus, and become the answer to our petitions before your throne. Wash us in the blood of Christ, and transform us into His image. We pray that in the moment of judgement our face will have become His, and that His righteousness will have covered our sins. Until then Father, answer our prayers, use the nights in our lives to still us, give us rest, increase us in faith, and for us to hear your small still voice as you gently sing us to sleep. Great are you our God, and greatly to be praised, for these are the days, and nights, that you have made.
Rich Forbes