When Morning Comes

Warriors Arise: August 23, 2020

John 21:1-4 (NKJV) After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. 4 But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

After a frustrating night like the disciples had, I bet they were thankful for morning to come and to be put out of their misery. They had been casting nets all night long and to no avail, they caught absolutely nothing. Nada, not one tiny fish. Nothing means nothing. What a frustrating venture. Where was the satisfaction in that?

I have had days like that and even nights when sleep evades me and when I have prayed for everything I can think of. I find myself praying for morning to come. Let's just have that day over so we can start new.

I am thinking some of the disciples were hoping for the same answer. Four of them had gone back to what was familiar, doing something they knew how to do and the others joined them. Why the trouble? Why was it so difficult and taxing to do what they knew how to do? They had fished for years maybe even decades and now, they had been gone for 3 years and can't catch a thing. What had happened?

Sometimes those can be the most difficult times. Knowing you can do it because you have done it before, but for some reason you can't do it now. Everything seems to be such a struggle this time. You might even find yourself asking, "What have I gotten myself into?" Followed by, "How am I going to get out of this?"

For the disciples morning had come. The time for fishing was over and they had caught nothing. Now what?

Maybe you have been in a different situation, one like Jacob. You were up all night wrestling within over a matter, even wrestling with God over a matter. You wanted to make sure that your flesh was submitted to God. You wanted to make sure that what you were about to do was being directed by God. Maybe you were still in question of God's love for you, His blessing was still upon your life, and He would work things out with where you were going.

In Genesis 25-32 we read the story of Jacob. He was afraid his brother Esau was going to kill him and his family, even taking all he had with him. Jacob was afraid God was sending him to his death and he knew who would kill him, his brother Esau. Esau had vowed to kill Jacob upon their father's death. But Rebekah had sent Jacob away to her brother's family. Jacob had been gone for at least 14 years. And now, God had told him to return to the land of his father's. One thing brought fear to Jacob, his brother, Esau. Jacob had sent every one across the river to meet his brother. Then he went to meet God.

Genesis 32:22-29 (NKJV) And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” 27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.

Jacob was so afraid of Esau but if God blessed him, he knew he would be okay. Jacob fought all night with God. He was is such fear and desperation he would not relent even when God told him to stop. Morning came and Jacob received his blessing. He knew God was with him. He didn't know the outcome with his brother but he knew God.

Morning for the disciples brought forth the end of their agony, a miserable, unfulfilled night. Morning for Jacob brought an end to his struggle with fear, because he knew God was for him. What does morning bring for you?

Father, some of us are struggling, miserable and in agony over the destruction in our country. There are those who are willing to sell out police officers, who put their lives on the line for our protection every day. There are those who are willing to give up all the freedoms our military has fought to give us. There are those who are demanding we give up our right to protect ourselves, our family and business. There are those who want to allow terrorism to run rampant from city to city. There are those who are trampling on the blood of those who fought to give us freedom from tyranny. There are those who are undoing what you used Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to accomplish. There are those who continue to support Planned Parenthood and their despicable selling of baby parts on the black market. There are those who want to take away from women their talent and ability in sports as men change sex and compete in women sports. I am asking for You to come and intervene. I am asking for the truth of these deceptions to be made known. The men can't compete with other men, so they want to compete in the women's arena even though genetically they are men. This is all wrong and we need eyes to be opened to see how wrong this is. I am asking for You to speak and be heard. I am asking for You to open the floodgates of heaven and saturate us with the truth. I pray we will no longer hold on to what we think is right and wrong but we will know right and wrong based on the Word of God. You created people and you made no mistakes. You did not bring a baby into this world for the baby to be harvested, killed and sold for body parts. Struggling all night, then doing the wrong thing is not what You have for us. You desire for us to submit ourselves to You and walk in the truth of Your ways, because we know You. I pray we will not return to our old ways, the things we used to do. I pray we will put away what You have called us out of. I pray we will wrestle with You for the truth. I pray the result is to be with You, submit to Your plan, and go forward with You. I pray we will come to the end of ourselves and our ways and put You first. I pray we will put You first in our decisions. I pray we will put You first in our actions. I pray we will ask for Your direction. I ask for You to make Yourself known in Jesus' name amen.

A Warrior in the Lord’s Army,

Veridee Joy

My hope is for Believers in Jesus Christ to join together each day to pray, to push back the enemy as we release God’s power here on earth against the coronavirus, riots, and lies. The prayers will be listed each day as Warriors Arise. I will put a date with it so we can keep them straight. If you have any questions please feel free to make a comment or private message me. If you would like this to come to your email directly please go to verideehand.com and subscribe.