Philip Yancey asks, “Who would complain if God allowed one hour of suffering in an entire lifetime of comfort?” I think most of us would sign up for just one hour of suffering in a lifetime of comfort! I’m sure you have had more than an hour of suffering in your lifetime already. Yancey reflects that our “lifetime is a mere hour of eternity.” It’s a helpful way to look at suffering, to get an eternal perspective on our troubles. Our Psalm for today makes a similar point:
“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)
The night can be so hard, how painful our suffering often is, how hard to see loved ones suffer, to fear for the future. But this Psalm reassures us that for God’s people there is joy to come. Think of our Lord Jesus as he sang this Psalm, he knew the sorrow and agony that awaited him as he would bear our sin at the cross, but what joy there would be on resurrection morning! And his victory means our victory, His joy, our joy! As David celebrates how God rescued him, he commands his people to sing praise to God (v4), because if the king prospers, so do the people. How much more with our King Jesus. If you belong to Him, you may have weeping for the night, but what joy there will be on resurrection morning, when Christ makes everything new. When he wipes away all your tears, when he takes away all your pain, and when he gently reassures you, this will go on forever!
Look at the joy there will be:
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness” (v11). What a wonderful picture, imagine God the Father taking of your sackcloth, all your grief, all your pain, all your guilt, and clothing you with gladness. How do we know he will do this? Because in v5 we were told “his anger is but for a moment, and his favour is for a lifetime.” God’s righteous anger at your sin was poured out on Jesus instead of you. Jesus took all the punishment you deserve so that you can know God’s joy and favour forever. If you are a beloved child of God, you will still face His loving discipline, and you will still experience the pain of living in a broken world, but dear child of God, fix your eyes on the glory that is to come, the joy that lies ahead.
In our reading from 1 Kings 8 we read “Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.” God always keeps His promises, and He promises eternal joy to all those who belong to His beloved Son. He will take off your sackcloth and cloth you with gladness.
Light and Momentary Troubles 
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