You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,” vs. 11
Psalm 30:6-12
The psalmist had a strong sense of having lived in the Lord’s favor through his entire life. There had been times when things had not gone well for him but he didn’t doubt that the Lord had his back. He knew that ultimately God’s underlying love would lift him up, and that hope never abandoned him when times seemed bleak. Generally that’s how it works for people of faith. As we look back at our lives we can recite countless occasions of profound sadness and even depression. Times of prosperity are followed by market collapses and loss of job or income. No life can be illustrated on a graph by a straight line from one side to the other. There are always peaks and valleys! As the psalmist put it so well, mourning is turned into dancing and sadness is replaced by joy. Of course most of us would prefer that life would always be lived on mountain tops, but we also know that such a life is impossible. But it does feel good to know on the dismal days that our current moods and feelings are not permanent. God takes no pleasure in our sadness and is always at work within and around us to bring resurrection and restoration. And when we know this great truth, those moments of darkness lose their power! They just don’t last!
Thought for the Day: The longest I’ve felt bad!
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