Joy Comes in the Morning!

One month ago, my life was shaken. Dreams fell apart, plans were destroyed because the unthinkable happened. My Daddy was received into heaven.
Please recognize that I used the term "shaken" and not "destroyed". This is because my dad was not my life. He was not my hope or my all. That position belongs completely to God. I was, however, terribly shocked and broken before God. I still I have trouble believing this is all real.
There have been moments of anger, overwhelming sorrow, and confusion. But the joy of Christ has reigned overall. Psalm 30:5 says, "For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain at night, but rejoicing comes in the morning." I thought I knew what this meant beforehand, but now I understand it is a whole new light. All the pain and sorrow have a purpose, and I got to see a glimpse of that purpose while in Washington DC last week with family friends.
God told me before we left that He wanted me to share the love of Jesus with someone. I went into panic mode. If you know me, you know I have a little box I like to fit into and stay there. Everything has a schedule. And besides that, I'm not the type to go up and talk to strangers. I like building a relationship before I ask them where they stand with Christ. Anyway, I freaked out, so I went to read the Bible and God showed me Psalm 19:13, "Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me..." That made me realize that God was calling me to obey, and even though I had an option, God wanted to use me to glorify Him. I feared more than anything that I would chicken out and disobey. Thus, I told three close friends about this calling, and they promised to pray for me.
Once in DC, I was again afraid that I would miss an opportunity and fail. And more than that, I would have to tell those three friends I had failed. Finally, I quit worrying and God gave me peace. Sunday night, after a long day of sightseeing at Mount Vernon, the family's daughter wanted to go swim at the pool. I was reluctant to go at first, but then realized it was a good opportunity to journal and read the Bible. Thus, we went up for about an hour. After I finished my reading and praying, I looked over to see the life guard sitting in a chair near the pool towels. God tells me "That's him." With my heart beating 100 MPH, I go over to get my friend a towel to dry off with. Before going back, I stop and ask the man (probably about 40 years-old) if there was any way I could pray for him. He looks at me for a second and  breaks into a grin. He asks "What do you mean?" A few sentences later I ask him if he thinks he will go to heaven when he dies. He replies that he is a pretty good man, but figures he will have to wait until he gets there. I then get to tell him about my dad. I say that he was a good man, a preacher at that, but that is not why he is in heaven. It is because he had faith in God. I share Romans 6:23 and tell him that the only thing we earn is death. Jesus died for us because he loves us, and if we realize we cannot get to heaven on our own and have faith in him, that is how we can get to heaven.
Of course, I didn't explain it as orderly as that because I was so nervous. I did ask him if he had a Bible, and he did. He, in return, asked where would be a good place to start reading. I tell him the book of John is a great place to start. Before going back to the room, I tell they man that I will be praying that he asks Jesus to be his Savior. The life guard is all smiles.
Wow! I've prayed for that man very often since that night. I pray I get to meet him again in heaven. Either way, though, I was blessed that night. After sharing, I felt so joyful, like I was about to burst! I wanted to sing and dance and celebrate because knowing I had obeyed Jesus' will that night was the best thing ever! And more than that, the reason for my dad's death was given a face. And that gives me such hope, knowing that it wasn't in vain. Joy most certainly comes in the morning!