THE MORNING AFTER

 I don’t know about you, but this term is taking on a more significant meaning in my life as I get older.  I never paid attention to the morning after with the same appreciation as I do now.

When I was growing up there was a song on the radio The Morning After, sung by one of my favorite artists, Maureen McGovern, that now I understand clearly now.

In the events and journals of my life, you’ll find stories ranging in scope of the modern theater represented by two masks: a smiling muse of comedy, and a frowning muse of tragedy

I’ve had some pretty dark days and some lonely nights. I’ve had incidents of danger and fear come upon me.  Not to mention the fact I’m aging and can’t do what I once was able to do.  There have been moments of hurt and disappointment where my heart skipped several beats.

On the other hand, there were moments that I laughed so hard I couldn’t catch enough breath. There were also occasions where I smiled so hard with joy that it felt as if my lips and cheeks would split.  I’ve been so proud of things accomplished, knowing it was the strength of God that carried me through that my heart and soul were both overwhelmed, left with unarticulated expressions.

I was so focused on the event and the goal to survive that I forgot to remember all the morning after’s that occurred.

During the three long days of child birth, I went through to have my daughter was pale to the love and joy I had the morning after when I looked into her healthy eyes.

After caregiving and the loss of each of my loved ones, I was drained emotionally, physically, and spiritually but awoke to a day that I was reminded that their suffering and pain was gone; heaviness replaced by relief and honor.

After the attempted carjacking and the attack of a store merchant, I’ve had hours of shared laughter with friends and strangers who heard and shared in my humor.

I now value the morning after more for several reasons.  First, God said we’d received new mercies each day.  If I just hold on.

Next, I can look back over those circumstances in my life and see how the hand of God moved me through to the shores of safety.

Finally, I understand more that it’s the morning after where I, in retrospect, can see the details of the circumstances and learn more about God and myself from them, thereby to grow, appreciating my personal journey.

Here are the lyrics to that song I now sing to my soul:

There's got to be a morning after, if we can hold on through the night
We have a chance to find the sunshine, Let's keep on looking for the light

When things are really rough, I tell her:
Oh, can't you see the morning after? It's waiting right outside the storm
Why don't we cross the bridge together, and find a place that's safe and warm?

On the verge of giving up I remember Jesus and say to my soul:
It's not too late, we should be giving, only with love can we climb
It's not too late, not while we're living, Let's put our hands out in time

On the darkest of days, I encourage my soul:
There's got to be a morning after, we’re moving closer to the shore
I know we'll be there by tomorrow, and we'll escape the darkness
We won't be searching anymore

I remind her of the hope and blessings awaiting us on the shore, in the arms of our Savior.

What do you say to your soul? Speak words of life over yourself. Hold on, don’t be discouraged.  Wait, there is going to be a morning after for you. New mercy is on its way.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO MY ENEMIES

I’ve been trying to determine what works in my life to recreate success with my future goals. When I completed this task, I thought I’d have a list that would include incidents where my supporters surrounded me or friends and family came to my rescue, with help or a life-changing word. To my surprise, if these scenarios happened, it was so rare it’s not worth mentioning. What I found was a list of events where I was alone with feelings of being abandoned with my enemies raging around me.

Now I want to make it clear that my enemies are real. I don’t have the kind of enemies that are passive, nor are they inexperienced in the art of war.   My enemies tried to set me up on my job to humiliate me then get me fired. If I didn’t quit the job, they would strategically place themselves around contend with my every effort.  My enemy would work discord in my neighborhood. My enemy will talk about me behind my back with hideous lies to destroy my character. My enemies take joy in hearing of my misfortunes and wait to hear of my destruction from them. If my demise doesn’t come soon enough, they will see what they do to help speed the process up. My enemies would attack my children and my marriage when the attacks against me didn’t work, knowing this would destroy me. My enemies would turn my friends against me.   Then they would use them on the inside to stay close to me to further hurt me.

Even though I felt alone in these situations, I realized God was with me. He would somehow stir something deep within me, an anger of sorts or a refusal to go down without a fight that would arise in my spirit and I would come out swinging against the opposition. I had a take no prisoner approach. I fought with the strength that I know only the Lord could have given me. I gained victory over my enemies and negative situations in my life. I learned skillful ways from God to defeat my enemy and God would not allow bitterness to build within me that would cause me to become like my enemies.   I learned a lot about myself from facing my enemies and their attacks. I learned a lot about God, who was my only source of help.   I realized that these attacks made me stronger and closer to God. Over time, the attacks let me know that a bigger blessing or level of promotion was on the way from the Lord. I would have never gained this knowledge and strength if it had not been for the malicious attacks of my enemies. Most importantly, I learned that if I’m ever to succeed at anything in life, especially against my enemies, I must depend upon the Lord to guide and help me.

So if you’re under attack, don’t give in, and please don’t give up. Take a deep breath and a step back and seek the help of God. He promised never to leave us or forsake us. He is a master at strategy and can lead you around any trap of your enemy. He can give you the victory over those that come against you if you would just consult Him on how to proceed. Don’t be discouraged or dismayed we are more than conquers through Him that loved us (Romans 8:37). Thank your enemy for letting you know that your help from God and blessings are on their way