Courtenay Evans, “A Cry in the Night”
Compline 3
March 13 2024
Romans 8:24-25
“For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
Fiora, my beloved cat, has developed a habit of vocalizing desperate sounding-meows as soon as my head hits the pillow, as soon as the lights are turned out. And I, wishing to comfort this little one, climb out of bed, turn the lights back on, and sit, stroking her, until her anxiety diminishes.
The season of Lent, a season where we become more acquainted with our shadow side, and a season of leaning into our weaknesses and vulnerabilities is a season that often feels dark and confronting. Like Fiora’s anxiety in the darkness, we too, face our own. And like Fiora, we too, may find ourselves yearning for comfort, yearning for the light to return and for the darkness to go away; and yearning for an assurance that we are not alone. Yet in this darkness, we also realize our dependency, our dependency on Jesus as our comforter, as our Savior. And, it is exactly in these places of darkness where Jesus resides. It is exactly in these places where God illuminates His Light. This is where we find our hope.
“For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
Faith is a place of mystery. We do not see God, and in the darkness, we can’t see the full scope of how Jesus is at work. When the lights are out, Fiora can’t see me, yet she trusts that I am with her. Fiora trusts that when she cries, I will hear her call. She has hope that I will come to her. She has the hope that I will be her comforter and that she will be in the darkness no more. She has the hope that I will be with her.
So as we look towards the Easter promise of new life; and the promise that Jesus’ light will always outshine the darkness, may we find comfort in this hope, a hope that we cannot see, with a faith that is a mystery, but with the trust that Jesus sees us and is with us amid the darkness; Jesus hears our cries. Just as I sit with Fiora, Jesus sits with us, stroking and calming our anxious hearts as we await in the night, as we await for the lights to turn on. Amen.