Great Plains Daily Devotional for 9/13/2022

Psalm 30:5

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. 
 

My mother has a saying she’s used with my three siblings and I all our lives when we were facing tough times or perceived we were struggling: THINGS ALWAYS LOOK BETTER IN THE MORNING! When I was younger I suspicioned she told us this to make us go to bed, knowing that sleep would sweeten our attitudes and thinking both. After all she was a teacher and employed all kinds of sneaky tricks on kids ha! However as I aged into college and even adulthood I came to realize my mother knew and lived by Psalm 30:5.  Furthermore, she was right!
 
My mother is full of the confident hope the Bible asks us to have.  In addition she has unwavering faith that nothing… NOTHING… can separate us from God’s love and favor.  You might think this comes easily to her from her living an unchallenged life but you’d be wrong.  She, like almost every one of God’s children, has suffered including the loss of two infant children. Psalm 30:5 doesn’t say we’ll never struggle or never feel pain, it says the pain will pass and God will walk with us in the meantime and beyond. 
 
Now that my mother is nearing 80 she’s graduated into being a sneaky retired teacher, still tricking kids of all ages into making good life choices.  I have graduated into frequently telling my own two children THINGS ALWAYS LOOK BETTER IN THE MORNING!

Prayer for Reflection

Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 and Psalm 14
Exodus 32:7-14 and Psalm 51:1-10
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-10