Midnight

"About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once the prison doors flew open, and every body's chains came loose." Acts 16:25-26 "At midnight I rise to give you thanks, for your righteous laws." Psalm 119:62 When I was a teenager, I always had a curfew. It was always earlier, it seemed, than the curfew of most of my friends. I thought it was horrible when it started at 11:00 p.m. and it stayed that way for a long time (my friends from high school are laughing because they know this was true!). My parents said that as long as I lived there, I would have a curfew. This curfew thing was always an issue with me and my parents. I would beg and plead to stay out until at least 12:00 a.m.. For some reason, that midnight hour seemed like such a mile marker for me and my maturity and Independence. But, my dad would always say, "If you can't do what you want to do before midnight, then there is no reason for you to be doing it." I hated that saying (of course, now I know he might have been right... ok, he was right. Shhhh!)! I remember the day that my curfew got moved up to midnight! 12:00 a.m. (you are going to laugh... I was a freshman in college!). Wait a minute.. As I pause to remember all of this, I also remember my younger brother, Kyle, NEVER had a curfew! Where is justice? Justice, I say! ( I will have to talk to my parents about that matter a little later...even though Kyle is married now :-) . Anyway, back to me. One thing that sticks out in my mind about my midnight curfew is that I viewed the 'midnight hour' as free and liberating. My father, however, viewed it as the darkest part of the night. I remember that when I came in, my dad was never asleep. He would be in his bed, but he never went to sleep until I was home... safe. Two very different views of midnight... Midnight by definition means, "Intense darkness; a period of darkness and gloom; an ending of one day and the beginning of another." As I was praying about this post, God revealed to me that so many of His children are going through very dark times. Trials that aren't just difficult but trials where no end is in sight. They are trials that push your mind and body to a limit you never knew you had. This post is God's very breath to speak to us with a simple message: He wants us to seek Him at midnight. I am not saying that we should all set our clocks to have a 'quiet time' with Him at 12:oo a.m. (We could and I bet it would be cool, though!). He wants us to seek Him in the darkness. To reach out for Him, even though we cannot see Him; to believe He is there and in complete control even though we don't feel Him. In Psalm 119:62, I found it interesting to find that David, the King, rose to pray to God at midnight. Why? I don't know for sure, but based on the rest of what I read from David, he wanted God to know he was making the effort to do everything he could to be close with Him. He was a man after God's own heart, remember? He chased God's heart to mirror it. We know that David went through very dark times. Many theologians believe David even battled depression. But in the midnight hour, the darkest time of the night, the time when you just can't seem to sleep for your mind turning and turning, David chose to go to God and praise Him, to give God thanks. How long has it been that you were able to just thank God, even through the darkness around you? David viewed midnight as intense darkness, but he saw God as his light, his hope, his ending of one day and the beginning of another. God also showed me the reward of seeking Him in the midnight hour of trouble in Paul and Silas. Here are two men who had devoted themselves to sharing about the love and saving grace of Jesus Christ... yet they found themselves at midnight shackled, chained, and guarded in a cell. Sometimes, Satan convinces us that our trials we are going through have us trapped, bound, and fill us with hopelessness. I found it interesting that instead of Paul and Silas worrying about the fact that it was midnight, almost time for them to start a terrible day over again, they were singing praises (like David) to God! And guess what? God moved at midnight. There chains were broken and they were set free! Paul and Silas even lead a guard and his family to Christ! You may say, "Corrie, you don't understand. I can't possibly praise God with what I am going through. I have drifted from Him. I don't even know where to start." My friend, all I know is what is true and who has never ever failed me. I know that God says all we have to do is utter His name and He will come to where we are. He heals the broken hearted. I will tell you that when it feels like midnight to me (and it so often does), I have learned that I can dread the next day or I can go to God with every fear, doubt, and tear that I have. And with a pure cleansed heart, only then am I able to praise Him. He changes my view. The shackles come off, the chains are broken, and my faith is strengthened that much more. I pray that if you are at the midnight hour, the hardest trial of your life, you will no longer view it as the darkest part of the night, but you will see it as liberating and a time to have freedom in Christ... "We can trust God not only above our emotions, but also above our thoughts."----Corrie ten Boom Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, how I love you. I am so thankful for those 'midnight' hours, for it is then when I see you and your power in my life. Without my trials, I would never know how deep your love is for me. I lift up every person who reads this post, Lord. Run to them, Father, as they seek you in the darkest time of their life. Help us to wait for you to come and break us free from our shackles, chains, and doors of the strongholds. We love you and give you thanks for who you are. Our identity lies in you...