CHAPTER TWO
Night Seasons
There are times in all our lives when things are not changing as fast as
we would like. We’re praying and believing, but our health isn’t
improving. Our finances haven’t turned around. We still haven’t met the
right person. We can feel alone, forgotten, as though our situation is
never going to change. It’s a night season. In these night seasons, we
can’t see what God is doing. It doesn’t look as though anything is
happening, but God is working behind the scenes. He does His greatest
work in the dark. We don’t see anything changing. We’re still dealing
with the same problem. But God hasn’t forgotten about us.
In the dark times, when life feels unfair, you have to remind yourself
that God is still in control. Just because you don’t see anything happening
doesn’t mean that God is not working. He doesn’t always show you what
He’s up to. It’s easy to trust Him when you’re getting good breaks and
things are going great. But you have to learn to trust Him in the night
seasons when things aren’t going your way and you don’t see anything
happening.
As a young man, David defeated Goliath. It was a great victory. But
after that he spent years running from King Saul, hiding in caves,
sleeping in the desert. I’m sure he prayed, “God, deliver me from Saul.
This is not right.” But it was as though the heavens were silent. God
didn’t change it. Saul was wrong. It was unfair to David. But the night
seasons are times of testing, times of proving. We can either choose to get
negative and live discouraged, or we can choose to say, “God, I don’t
understand it. It’s not fair, but I trust in You. I know You’re not just the
God of the daytime, but also the God of the night seasons.”
In the Scripture, Ruth lost her husband at an early age. She was
devastated, heartbroken. She could have given up on life and lived in
self-pity. But she understood this principle: the night seasons are not the
end. The bad breaks, the disappointments, the losses, and the sicknesses
are simply additional steps on the way to your destiny.
The psalmist said, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes
in the morning.” Your story doesn’t end in the night. The night is
temporary. The sickness is temporary. The loneliness is temporary. The
addiction is temporary. Ruth went on to meet another man. They fell in
love, got married, and had a baby. Her story didn’t end in the dark. When
things aren’t working out and you feel as though you’re going in the
wrong direction, don’t get discouraged because God has not changed it
yet. It’s just a night season. It’s not permanent. It’s not how your story
ends. You may not see anything happening, but God is at work. Dare to
trust Him. Keep moving forward in faith, keep believing. It’s just a matter
of time before the morning breaks forth.
“After This”
Like other Old Testament heroes of the faith, Job went through a night
season. Everything had been going great. He was happy, healthy, and
successful, but life took a sudden turn. Out of nowhere he came down
with a very painful illness. He had boils all over his body. He lost his
business, and he lost his sons and daughters. His whole world was turned
upside down. What’s interesting is that Job was a good man. He loved
God. He was a person of excellence and integrity. All that happened to
him would make more sense if he were a compromiser, making wrong
choices, not honoring God. But the Scripture says, “God sends the rain on
the just and the unjust.” Just because you’re a good person doesn’t mean
you’re not going to have some night seasons.
If you are in a difficult time right now, it doesn’t mean you’ve done
something wrong and that God’s not pleased with you, that you don’t
have His favor. It means that you’re getting some rain. Without the rain
you couldn’t grow. And God wouldn’t have allowed it if it were going to
keep you from your destiny. He has you in the palms of His hands. He’s
closely watching you. You may feel as though you’re in the fire, but God
controls the thermostat. He won’t let it be more than you can handle.
Now quit telling yourself, “I’ll never make it through this. I’ll never get
well, never accomplish my dreams.” No, it’s just a night season. It’s not a
surprise to God. He already has the solution, and the breakthrough is
headed your way.
But Job did what many of us do in the difficult times. He focused on
the problem, magnified what was wrong, and let it overwhelm him. Job
said, “I will never again experience pleasure. I have been assigned to long
weary nights of misery.” He was saying, “This is permanent. This is how
my story ends. I’ve been assigned to nights of misery.” The events our
ministry calls “A Night of Hope” Job would have called “A Night of
Misery.” I’m not making light of what he faced, because it was serious
and heartbreaking. But the mistake he made was thinking it was
permanent.
What you’re going through may be difficult, but the good news is
that you are going through it. It’s not your final destination. It’s a night
season, not a night lifetime. In Job’s darkest hour, when he was the most
discouraged, one of his friends said to him, “God will fill your mouth
with laughter, and your lips with shouts of joy.” God was saying, “Job, it
looks bad. You don’t understand it, but don’t worry. It’s not permanent.
It’s just a season. I’m about to fill your mouth with laughter.”
God is saying to you what He said to Job. Life may not have been
fair, but you’re not going to live discouraged, overwhelmed by problems
or burdened down by illnesses. Joy is coming. Health is coming.
Breakthroughs are coming. Promotion is coming. God is about to fill your
mouth with laughter. That means God’s going to do something so
unusual, so extraordinary, that you’ll be so amazed that all you can do is
laugh. Your mourning is going to be turned to dancing, your sorrow to
joy.
This is what happened with Job. He not only made it through the
night season, but God restored double what he’d lost. He came out with
twice the oxen, sheep, camels, and donkeys. He felt twice as healthy. God
always makes the enemy pay for bringing trouble. If you’ll stay in faith,
you won’t just come out, you will come out better than you were before.
The Scripture says, “After this, Job lived 140 years, and saw his children
and grandchildren for four generations. Then he died an old man, having
lived a long, good life.” When we think of Job, we usually think of all his
pain, all his suffering. The truth is, that was just one season. You may be
in a dark time, but, like Job, you’re going to come through it and still live
a long, blessed life. It says, “After this, Job lived 140 years.” After what?
After the night season. That means after the loss, after the
disappointment, after the divorce, after the sickness, there are still many
great days ahead.
Light Will Come Bursting In
My father went through a night season. He was married at a very young
age. Unfortunately, the marriage didn’t work out. He was devastated
when it failed, resigned from his church, and got out of the ministry.
Denominational leaders told him that he would never pastor again. People
said he was finished. The good news is, people don’t determine your
destiny; God does. Two years later, he got back into the ministry, and he
later married my mother. They had five children and were married for
almost fifty years. They started Lakewood and he pastored here for forty
years, touching the world. This all happened after the divorce, after the
disappointment. He’d thought that would sour the rest of his life, but it
was just a season. He went on to live a long, blessed, faith-filled life.
Don’t let the night seasons convince you that you’ve seen your best days.
You wouldn’t be alive unless God had something amazing in front of
you.
In the dark times, it’s easy to talk about the difficulties, talk about
how badly life is treating us. Like Job, we tend to exaggerate our
problems. All that’s going to do is make you more discouraged and
defeated and take your joy. Instead of complaining, one of the best things
you can say is, “All is well.” When you say, “All is well,” what you’re
really saying is, “God is still on the throne, and I’m not going to live
upset, bitter, and guilty. I may be in a night season, but I know this too
shall pass. All is well.” Somebody may say, “Well, I thought the medical
report wasn’t good.” And you respond, “Yes, that’s true, but all is well.
God is restoring health back to me.” They say, “Your child is still off
course.” You answer, “Yes, but I’m not worried. All is well. As for me
and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Perhaps you’re wondering, How can I say “All is well” when I lost a
loved one, and I went through a breakup and still haven’t met the right
person? You can say it because you know the night season is only
temporary. You know joy is coming. You know that what was meant for
harm, God is turning to your advantage. You know that after this comes a
long, blessed, faith-filled life. Now, don’t talk yourself into being
miserable. We all have night seasons, times we don’t understand. Keep a
report of victory coming out of your mouth. If you’re going to magnify
something, don’t magnify your problems; magnify your God. Talk about
His greatness, talk about His favor. And yes, you may have big
challenges, but we serve a big God. A cure may seem impossible, but
God can do the impossible. An obstacle may look permanent, but one
touch of God’s favor can thrust you to the next level. Quit worrying. God
is saying, “All is well.” In your finances, all is well. In your health, all is
well. In your family, all is well. It may be night right now, but morning is
coming. You’re going to see what God was doing behind the scenes.
Every day that you stay in faith, every day that you keep a good
attitude despite the darkness, you’re passing the test. That night season
will come to an end. The psalmist said, “When darkness overtakes the
righteous, light will come bursting in.” It’s going to happen suddenly,
unexpectedly; you won’t see it coming. You woke up, and it was still
dark. Nothing had changed, but suddenly you get the break you need.
Suddenly your health turns around. Suddenly you meet the right person.
The light comes bursting in.
The Development of Character
Maybe, as we saw Moses did in the first chapter, you made a mistake that
put you into a night season. Something was delayed. You had to take a
detour to a desert place. You’re not where you thought you would be.
Now you think you have to settle there and never accomplish what God
put in your heart. You may not realize it, but right now, God is getting
you prepared for your comeback. What He started, He’s going to finish.
He’s already taken into account every wrong turn, every mistake, every
bad break in your life. It may look like the end to you, but the truth is, it’s
just a temporary delay. It’s a time of testing, a time of proving, when your
character is being developed. God is working in you, polishing off the
rough edges. He’s getting you prepared for where He’s taking you. Forty
years after Moses’ mistake, God came back and said, “All right, Moses,
now you’re ready for Me to use you to deliver My people.” The Scripture
says, “Moses was the most humble man in all the land.” In that night
season, Moses changed. He learned to wait on God, to listen to His voice,
to walk in humility. He came up higher in his character.
In the difficult times, stay pliable, stay open, and say, “God, make me
and mold me. Show me where I need to change.” You grow in the tough
times. Even physically, you grow at night when you’re asleep. In the
same way, when you’re in a night season, you may not like it, but it’s
working for you. You’re getting stronger. You have to be prepared for
where God is taking you. Moses couldn’t handle it the first time. He
made a mistake and had to run, but God didn’t write him off. He didn’t
cancel Moses’ destiny. He used the night season to refine him.
When Saul was chasing David through the desert, there were several
opportunities for David to kill Saul. He could have taken Saul’s life and
gotten rid of his problem, so to speak. But David wouldn’t do it. He knew
that Saul had been anointed by God. He told his men, “I’m not going to
harm what God has anointed.” After he passed these tests, after David
showed God what he was made of, that he was a man of character and
integrity, God took care of Saul and David was made the king.
In the night seasons, you need to pass the tests, change where you
need to change, and deal with the areas that God is bringing to light. You
need to prove to Him that you’ll do the right thing when it’s hard, and
you’ll forgive others even though they hurt you. Then, as He did for
David and Moses, because your character has been developed, God will
bring you out of that night season and get you to where you’re supposed
to be. But we can only develop some things in the dark. Without the night
seasons, we wouldn’t become all God created us to be.
Transformed in the Dark
A caterpillar can be going along just fine. Everything is great, but down
deep something says, “You’re not supposed to crawl your whole life. You
have more in you.” He gets excited, thinking, Yes, that’s right! Then he
looks in the mirror and says, “What was I thinking? I’ll never fly. I’m just
a glorified worm. That’s impossible.” But one day the caterpillar spins a
cocoon around itself and hangs upside down from a branch. It’s dark. He
can’t move or eat. If you were to talk to him when he is in the cocoon, he
would say, “Let me go back to where I was. Let me go back to being a
caterpillar. I don’t like where I am. I’m uncomfortable. It’s dark. It’s
lonely.” What he doesn’t realize is that in the dark, a transformation is
taking place. Before long he starts feeling some wings, then he gets the
strength to push out of that cocoon. Now, instead of crawling on the
ground, he’s a beautiful butterfly floating through the air.
Like the caterpillar, we all dislike the night seasons. We don’t like
being uncomfortable. We don’t see anything happening. But there are
times when God incubates us. He does not take us through the dark
places to make us miserable, but in the dark a transformation is taking
place. You’re growing, you’re being refined. You may not like it, but you
have to keep reminding yourself that your wings are developing. You’re
about to step up to a new level. No more crawling, living in mediocrity.
You were made for higher things. You may be in a night season, but by
faith I can see your cocoon starting to open. I see a wing coming out. This
is no time to be discouraged; you’re on the verge of taking off in flight.
You’re about to become a beautiful butterfly. You’re about to go places
that you’ve never dreamed of. Now, don’t complain about the cocoon.
“It’s dark. It’s uncomfortable. I’m lonely.” Keep a good attitude; it’s all a
part of the process. God is changing you from glory to glory.
In the Scripture, a man named Jacob had not lived the right kind of
life. He was dishonest. He cheated people and even tricked his brother
out of his birthright. You would think that God wouldn’t have anything to
do with him. But God doesn’t write us off. He keeps working with us and
showing us His mercy as He did with Jacob. While Jacob was on a long
journey through the desert, he was hot and tired and hungry. Nothing was
going his way. He came to a place to spend the night, and all he could
find for a pillow was a rock. He was in a hard place, a lonely time—a
night season. I’m sure Jacob thought that God had forgotten about him.
He went to sleep that night feeling down on himself, discouraged, full of
regrets. While he was sleeping, he had a dream in which he saw the
heavens open up, and saw a huge staircase with angels going up and
down. The Lord was standing at the top of the staircase, and He said,
“Jacob, the ground you are lying on belongs to you and your descendants.
I will protect you wherever you go. I will be with you continually until I
give you everything that I have promised.” When Jacob woke up, he
couldn’t believe what he had seen. He said, “Surely the Lord is in this
place!” What’s interesting is that Jacob wasn’t in a church, a temple, or a
synagogue. He was in the desert. God was showing us that He’s the God
of hard places, the God of lonely times, the God of night seasons.
You may be in a difficult place now. Perhaps you’re fighting a battle
in your health, dealing with depression, or raising a special needs child.
You feel alone, forgotten, and discouraged. God is right there with you,
and, as they did for Jacob, I believe the heavens are about to open up.
God is going to make things happen that you couldn’t make happen. You
may be in a hard place, but you’re not staying there. Your health is going
to improve. You’re going to break that addiction. The right people are
going to show up. You’re going to join Jacob and say, “The Lord is in
this place! The Lord healed me from cancer.” “The Lord freed me from
depression.” “The Lord blessed my business.” He’s not going to stop
until He’s given you everything that He’s promised.
Get Ready for Some Wows
You’ve heard the phrase the night shift. It refers to people who work
during the night. But think of it another way. In the night, things are
going to shift. The Scripture says, “God never sleeps.” He doesn’t just
work the night shift, He shifts things in the night. You may be in a night
season, and you may not see how the difficulties you face can work out.
Don’t worry—a night shift is coming. The God who works the night shift
is going to shift things in your favor. There’s going to be a shift in your
health, a shift in your finances, a shift with that addiction. You think
you’re going to have it for years. It looks permanent. No, get ready for a
night shift.
This is what happened with Paul and Silas. They had been spreading
the good news in the city of Philippi, for which they had been beaten with
rods and imprisoned, held in the inner dungeon with their feet in chains.
But at midnight, as they were singing praises to God, suddenly there was
a great earthquake. The prison doors flung open, and the chains came off
their feet. They walked out as free men. What happened? God shifted the
earth, shifted the prison doors, shifted the chains. When did it happen? At
midnight. It was just another night shift for the God who works the night
shift.
Things may look permanent in your life—the addiction, the sickness,
the panic attacks, the lack and struggle. Thoughts will tell you, You’ll
always have to deal with that. Don’t believe those lies. You’re in a night
season, which means you’re in perfect position for a night shift. God
specializes in shifting things in the dark. Instead of worrying, all through
the day say, “Lord, thank You for a night shift. Thank You that things are
changing in my favor. It’s dark now, but I believe what You said. Light is
about to come bursting in.”
In Genesis 2, Adam was all by himself in the Garden of Eden. Life
was good. He was naming the animals that God had created, enjoying the
crystal-clear river, the beautiful trees, the delicious fruit. There were no
problems, no sicknesses, no oppositions. Adam didn’t think it could get
any better. But God didn’t want him to live alone. The Scripture says,
“God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep.” God put him in a night
season. He took a rib from his side and used it to create a woman. When
Adam woke up from this deep sleep and saw Eve, I can imagine the first
thing he said was, “Wow, God, You’ve outdone Yourself!” But I’m sure
that he hadn’t understood why God was putting him to sleep. He was
happy already. Life seemed perfect. But some things can only develop in
the dark. And if God didn’t put us to sleep, so to speak—have us go
through a night season—we would never see the fullness of what He has
in store for us.
You may feel as though God has put you to sleep. Things have
slowed down. You’re in a challenging situation. It’s a night season. Be
encouraged. When you wake up and see what God has been up to, the
first thing you’re going to say is, “Wow, God, I never dreamed You’d
take me here!” “I never dreamed we’d have the Compaq Center!” “I
never dreamed I’d be this healthy again!” God has some wows in your
future.
Don’t complain about the dark places, because they are leading you
to the amazing things God has in store. You may not understand it, but
God wouldn’t have allowed it if He weren’t going to use it to your
advantage. Right now, God is working behind the scenes. He sees what
you’re dealing with and knows how you feel. He’s saying the night
seasons are not permanent. You may be in a cocoon, where it’s dark and
uncomfortable, but He’s making you and molding you, your wings are
developing. You’re about to take off in flight to a new level. I believe
you’re about to see a night shift from sickness to health, from lack to
abundance, from addiction to freedom. The light is going to come
bursting in. Get ready for some wows in Jesus’ Name!
BLESSED IN THE DARKNESS 