Joseph Prince - A Message for Your Night Seasons
This is an excerpt from: Answers For Dark Nights And Difficult Seasons
I want to talk to you, I want to share with you about your night seasons. If you are going through something right now, even though right now you're on a high, you don't feel like you're going through anything, you know, you can tear a lion apart, and knock down that bear, and stone that Goliath, you feel like you're in that place, there are many who are going through a night season. And you know something? We will all go through it. This is not a prophecy, it's just something that it's life, amen.
As long as you're on this side of heaven, one day the Bible says in Revelations 22, "There'll be no more night in heaven". I love that phrase, "There will be no more night". "No more night. No more tears. No more pain, never crying again and praises to the Great I Am. We will rise and praise. The risen Lamb". Amen? Love your Lord. There'll be no more night, no more pain, no more tears, no more crying. Perhaps you're going through a dark season, perhaps you're going through a depressed, a depressed time, perhaps you're going through a time that you don't understand, you don't understand God even, amen? You know, the Lord knows what you're going through. More than anybody else, he knows exactly what you're going through.
And I just want to show you that in the Bible, the Bible talks a lot about night scenes, night events, night seasons. In Psalms 16, the Bible tells us David says, "I'll bless the Lord who has given me counsel. My heart also instructs me in the night seasons". If you are going through a night season, if not, just remember this Word that is coming forth because all of us will go through a night season. We need to know what to do during that time, amen? We need to understand what the Lord is after because he's not the one... many a times, when we go through a night season, a few persons might be involved. Number one is you. You got yourself into that mess, amen? Sometimes we ourself are the problem. Come on.
All right, if you offend your wife, you have a night season on the couch. That's not God's fault. That's not the devil's fault, amen? Number two, it could be the devil and most of the time this is the reason why there's no more night in heaven because there's no more devil. We are in a spiritual warfare. Let me tell you this, we are in a spiritual warfare. And pastors and leaders, especially after a great victory, after you preach a very good message, you feel you did very well that day, most pastors are most vulnerable when they go back. That's the time, even pastors become prone to pornography or become, you know, short tempered, and that's the time after a great victory, they don't understand it seems like the devil attacks them right during that time.
So pastors, especially after a great victory, remember this, it's time for us to really don't let our guard down and just rest in the Lord. And you ask yourself, "How come I feel like empty"? You just emptied yourself. You just emptied yourself because you served the Lord by serving his people, and you are empty. But remember to fill yourself up again. Remember that you're still a sheep and he wants to minister to you. Especially after a great victory when you come back, you are a sheep, remember that, and you need a shepherd's ministry. You need him to pour in the oil, and the wine, and the medicine. Will you allow him to do that?
Now, you can sit down and plop yourself in front of TV, but say, "Lord, I'm sitting before you, Lord". Make sure the TV show is good, lah, not something depressive, right? And then you just let the Lord minister to you. Say Lord, "I'm just a sheep. I need your touch, Lord. Give me a wonderful sleep tonight", amen? And he will do it. So, David even went through a night season and during the night season, the Bible says this. Y'all know this, "Joy cometh in the morning", right? But before that, what does it say? Weeping may endure for a night.
Psalms 50, "Weeping may endure for a night". It lasts only, it endures only for a night. So, the night season is a season of trial, it's a season where you are weeping where it's not pleasant. You're wondering what's going on. But God says, "Morning is coming", amen, morning is coming. And with the morning, you know who comes in that morning? Joy. Here the word "joy" comes, it's like a person. The person of joy is our Lord Jesus. He comes in the morning.
Now, there are seasons of visitation. Now, many of us, we in the Word of faith, we say that the Lord never leaves us, nor forsake us. But let me tell you this, there are seasons of visitation. So, there are seasons whereby the Lord comes, he wants to fellowship. Y'all know those seasons, come on. How many can say amen? It's like a drawing. You want to read the Word, you want to read the Word, but the sports game is too fun. I mean, it's too wonderful. It's like, you feel a call, you feel a call. I mean, you can TiVo it, you can record it if you want, but "No, I just want to watch it now", amen? But you know something? If you open up the Bible, it will jump out at you. Those are the seasons when you are yoked with an older ox.
Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you". By the way, the yoke that Jesus gives is easy and his burden is light. So, in those days what they do is that they were yoke an experienced ox with a younger ox. You know what's a yoke, right? You know the ox cart, bullock cart. Where are my Indian brothers? Are they here today. All right, so, ox cart, you know, the older cart, older ox on the cart.
When an ox that's experienced turn right, the younger one better follow or else he'll have a sore neck, right? When he turns left, he better follow. When he moves, you move. When he stops, you stop. Even when he rests, you gotta learn to rest. When he's not doing anything, don't do nothing, amen. When he drinks, you drink because if you don't, "I don't feel like drinking right now", then later on you want to drink, there's no fresh Word. There's no refreshing. So, when the Lord speaks to you, respond. So, when the Lord drinks, you drink. When the Lord responds to you, okay, I didn't plan to say all that. Somebody need to hear that. Thanks to you, I take some time to sidetrack and go on a rabbit trail, okay? So, remember this, joy comes in the morning.