(End)ure

So, there's this song you've probably heard. We sing it in church, we hear it on the radio. The song quotes Psalm 30:5 as it says this:

There may be pain in the night, but joy comes in the morning.

You may be like me, walking through a season of hardship and pain. You may take great solace in hearing that joy will come again, in the morning.

You may also be like me when you ask, "Lord, it's been a pretty long night. This night is straight up out of Alaska. When will morning come?"

I asked God this yesterday as I was driving to the studio and the answer He sent me was plain and clear and loud and NOT AT ALL WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR:

Endure.

One word.

Off I go to the studio, meditating on this word, trying to recall scripture that contains this word.

I do what any good artist does and I decide to paint this word. It comes out looking like this:

Hmmm...okay. What next? I put it to the side. I've got things to do, people coming in, classes to teach.

A few hours later I come back to my painting and God whispers, What do you see?

Do you see it, friend?

End. Staring at me plain as day as it sits at the beginning of the word. 

Your enduring will come to an end.

I don't pretend to know when or how. And I do know there's pain. But I also know God has promised joy in the morning. 

I notice this as the colors reflect back to me in orange and yellows, the colors of a glorious sunrise. The colors I thought I had just randomly chosen.

Joshua 1:9 tells us to "be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." This includes these seasons of long-night darkness. 

Joshua goes on to tell his people this:

The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.

Our morning is coming. One day our mourning will be over. I don't know the whens, the whys, or the hows. But I do know as sure as the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning, God is faithful to His Word. 

And our enduring will end.