Do you ever lie awake at night, unable to sleep? If so, use that time as an opportunity to pray. The Bible says that God "visits us in the night" (Psalm 17:3). Your best Friend! So, have a meeting with Him. "In the night His song shall be with" you (42:8). In the hours of darkness is a good time to "call to remembrance" the history of His many kindnesses to you (see 77:6). As a youth, Jesus says, "I have remembered Thy name, O Lord, in the night" (119:55). It's a time of joyous communion, for "even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee: but the night shineth as the day: ... Marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well" (139:11, 12, 14). "Commune with your own heart upon your bed" (4:4).
If you're awake at night and you can't sleep, it's also an excellent time to confess your mistakes and selfishness to the Lord; after his sin with Bathsheba, David could not sleep. "Day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: ... I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." Then David goes on to say that this is the way to peace of heart for all of us (32:4, 5, 6).
It's always in mercy that the Lord "visits" us at night; He doesn't want to hurt us; He wants only to save us from ourselves. Let the tears of contrition come, if the Holy Spirit touches your heart. On one occasion David said, "Day and night I cry, and tears are my only food" (42:3, GNB). A visit with your Savior thus at night will turn into joy on the morrow. "His anger endureth but a moment; in His favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" (30:5).
Empty, thoughtless smiles are superficial "Christian experience," and you are soon floundering in a sea of trouble over your head. But these tears of repentance in your "visits" with the Lord at night become a solid foundation of lasting peace of heart. Then no one and nothing can faze you in any "daytime."
This tidbit hors d'oeuvre of spiritual nourishment has been a little chat with David, not with me; I am nobody. It's Good News: learn not to waste your nights! "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy" (126:5). You can have a genuine "Christian experience."
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: December 7, 1999.Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Wieland.
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