Day 19: God of the Midnight Hour

Do you need God’s help desperately today? Does it seem like He is taking a long time to manifest His help to you? If so, be encouraged today. We serve God of the Midnight Hour. And although He does sometimes wait until what seems like midnight to come, He is about to show up for you!

We read about God of the Midnight Hour in Matthew 25, in the parable of the ten virgins. Jesus began this parable as follows:

“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’” (Matthew 25:1-6 NKJV).

In this parable, the bridegroom is an illustration for Jesus.

In real life, Jesus is our holy Bridegroom. Each of us who have given our lives to Him are part of His pure and spotless bride, and we are all eagerly awaiting His return to this earth to take us home to Heaven.

However, symbolically and in daily life, we are also each awaiting His help–the visible manifestation of His work on our behalf in solving every situation that we need solved.

We do have to start from a foundation of knowing, however, that Jesus is always with you.

He will never leave you nor forsake you. The Bible says:

“And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8 NKJV).

And Jesus taught us in the book of John that He is always in us, too:

“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:19-21 NKJV).

So, it’s not like we are ever alone. However, when we talk about “God showing up,” we generally mean it more colloquially; we are usually talking about when His help suddenly becomes visible and manifest to the human eye, and when He changes your situation.

And the fact is that Jesus often waits until the midnight hour to manifest many kinds of help on our behalf.

He doesn’t always wait until the midnight hour, but He does often wait until the midnight hour. And He is always helping us; for example, He is constantly:

• giving us wisdom by His Holy Spirit, whenever we ask (see James 1:5-8);
• instructing us and teaching us in the way we should go (see Psalm 32:8);
• doing all that we need done through us, for without Him we can do nothing (see John 15:5).

He is even giving you life right now, holding all things together–including the very cells of your body–by the word of His power. We read this in Hebrews 1:

And beloved, it is VITAL to continually acknowledge the ever-present presence and help of Jesus if you don’t want to walk around sobbing in hopeless despair all day long.

This world is not an easy place; and, if we don’t purposefully cultivate an awareness of the constant, indwelling presence of Jesus with us, then we would have no hope, courage, life, or joy at all.

But even after you know in your knower that God is with you, you still need Him to “show up” sometimes.

For example:

• Maybe you need Him to pay that bill now.
• Maybe you need Him to save your family member now.
• Maybe you need Him to heal you or a loved one now.
• Maybe you need Him to encourage you when you see no hope and can barely get out of bed.
• Maybe you need Him to help you find a place to live.

Whatever your situation is, you need Him now. And you have prayed and prayed and maybe even fasted and prayed, and still no solution appears to be on the horizon.

If that’s you today, beloved, look up–because your redemption draws near.

See, God doesn’t always manifest His visible help and solutions when we expect Him to. Our flesh–that is, our earthly, human, sometimes carnal (fleshly) way of thinking–expects Him to show up right at the moment we deem best:

• when we want Him to, immediately, and not before or after;
• in the way we desire Him to, preferably with angel appearances, trumpet blasts, and gold bars falling out of the sky on our heads;
• and with zero effort on our part.

When we want help, we want it now, and in abundance, and with ease, and without waiting. Unfortunately, however, Jesus doesn’t always work that way–because He is God of the Midnight Hour.

It’s not that He is not able to manifest His help sooner.

He is certainly able to manifest His help in any moment. He is able to do anything He wants; nothing is impossible for Him:

“For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37 NKJV).

And He is not having any problems exercising His power. His abilities have not been compromised, and His saving power has not been diminished with too much use down through the ages. Remind yourself of Isaiah 59:1:

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (Isaiah 59:1 NKJV).

But when we think of these things, sometimes it’s easy to get frustrated.

If God is perfectly able to help now–perfectly able to solve our problems and manifest miracles now–then why doesn’t He always do it?

Why does He wait at times?

Because our God of the Midnight Hour actually has a superior thought in mind.

I know that, to our human, earthly way of thinking, the resolution of our problems with the least effort possible on our part sounds like the ultimate goal. However, to God’s superior way of thinking, there is a better goal that can be accomplished through the waiting.

That goal is to conform us to the image of Jesus.

Look at what Holy Spirit taught us through the writings of Paul in 2 Corinthians:

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV).

We are each in constant transformation, being molded day by day by the sovereign hands of God’s Holy Spirit.

I know it would be easier for our flesh if God just snapped His fingers and did all of our character transformation in one moment, but that won’t happen until Jesus comes back–and in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we shall all be changed. According to 1 Corinthians 15:

“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:50-52 NKJV).

Therefore, whatever distance we still have to go at that moment in our journey of conforming to the image of Christ will suddenly be completed, and we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is:

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2 NKJV).

But between now and then, we have quite a journey to go.

Our journey, day by day, is to submit to the Holy Spirit as He changes us and makes us more like Jesus. And although it seems to our natural mind like it would be wonderful if we never had any problems, life is full of problems.

We live in a sinful world, and in this world we will have tribulations:

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NKJV).

And the simple fact is that Jesus, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit use the tests and trials of life as a proving ground to change us and make us more like Christ.

Waiting on the Lord is a big part of that.

Nobody likes to wait, including myself. However, waiting makes us strong according to God’s Word. Look at what God teaches us in the book of Isaiah:

And then look at what even David wrote:

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:13-14 NKJV).

Waiting on the Lord is an important part of our walk with Him.

He does not operate on our timeline. With Him, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day:

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8 NKJV).

God is simply not bound by our ideal timeframes for when we want things. He will be faithful to you. He will come through for you, and He will come through for you on time–but “on time” will be the way He defines it, in His superior knowledge of what is best for us, and what is best in our process of being changed into the image of Jesus.

But He will not let you be put to shame.

God will never let you be put to shame if you wait on Him. Look at what He promises you in Isaiah 49:

“Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, and set up My standard for the peoples; they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;

kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers; they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me” (Isaiah 49:22-23 NKJV, emphasis mine).

I know the waiting is hard, but you are not waiting on your destruction. You are waiting on God, Who has promised that you will not be put to shame if you wait on His timing!

God does have a habit of coming suddenly after long periods of waiting.

Look at what He taught us in the book of Habakkuk:

“Then the Lord answered me and said:

“Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:2-4 NKJV).

Did you see that? “Though it tarries” means God is specifically acknowledging that you are having to wait on Him for what seems like a long time.

But, His Word to you is clear: when the time comes, the solution, miracle, or fulfillment of His promise WILL surely and quickly show up. When the moment is right, the waiting will be abruptly over and you WILL receive what He has promised you.

O beloved, we serve a God of the Midnight Hour.

He often waits to bring us our solutions. He waits to manifest the miracle. But when it does come, oh! How glorious it is!

The key to the midnight miracle manifestation is to remain in faith while you wait.

You absolutely cannot draw back from your faith. You have to hold fast your confession of faith! Read these words of exhortation from Hebrews 10:

“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

‘For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:35-39 NKJV).

O beloved. No matter what you are going through, hold fast your confession of faith!

Don’t be one of those who draws back to perdition; and, if you have already stepped back from your faith, repent! Confess your sin of doubt and unbelief to God, and He will forgive you according to 1 John 1:9:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 NKJV).

So it’s not too late for you if you have been walking in doubt and unbelief. But, beloved, if you haven’t gone down into doubt and unbelief, this word is still for you–because you still have to hold fast your confession of faith!

Beloved, our God of the Midnight Hour is still going to rescue you!

I can’t even tell you how many times God has waited until the very last moment to rescue me from any number of situations. So often, I have prayed and prayed and even fasted and prayed, wondering where God’s answer is and when He is going to fix my problem.

But, you know what? He has never been late, not even one time!

He has, however:

• waited to send His solution until the midnight hour; or
• changed the deadline I thought I was facing, and thus His delay didn’t hurt me; or
• eliminated the need altogether, rather than providing or doing what I wanted Him to provide or do.

Nevertheless, even these things ARE His answers and His forms of help, which only He (in His divine wisdom) could have done and known how to do!

O beloved, what are you facing today?

Of course, it’s always wisdom to do whatever you can to help your own situations, following God’s leading; but even after you do what you can, there is almost always still going to be a gap that you need a miracle to fill! And if you need a miracle today, I hope and pray for your own sake:

Hold fast! Don’t give up! Don’t let the delay throw you into doubt and unbelief!

Stay the course, my friend; stay the course!

We serve a God of the Midnight Hour. He is never late, but He’s usually not early either. He already finished the works He prepared for you; He finished them before the foundation of the world:

“For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world” (Hebrews 4:3 NKJV).

So He knows exactly how, and when, and all the details of how He is going to manifest your help to you. Only He knows these things, but the works are already done and your prayer is already answered!

So, if you are waiting on the Lord, don’t be discouraged!

He is God of the Midnight Hour, but He will come! Keep your lamp trimmed; keep your oil full; stay awake and faithful! He is going to manifest His help to you, for they that wait upon the Lord will NOT be put to shame!

Pray this prayer right now and ask our God of the Midnight Hour to help you to wait on Him:

“Dear Heavenly Father, I come to You in Jesus’ name.

Abba Father, I love You. Thank You for being my Daddy, and for loving me and caring for me in all things. Thank You for caring about me in all things, and for always watching over me.

Lord God, You are truly God of the Midnight Hour.

I don’t always understand why I need to wait on You, but I acknowledge today that Your timing is perfect and mine is not. I acknowledge today that Your wisdom is perfect, and mine is not. And I choose to wait on You.

Father God, in Jesus’ name, please forgive me for my doubt and unbelief. Please forgive me for being angry at You, and for being resentful and angry toward You for requiring me to wait. I have always wanted everything right away, as everyone does; but I see now that Your ways are better than my ways, and Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts.

Abba Father, I choose to submit to Your process today:

• Conform me to the image of Jesus, even while I wait.
• Help me to wait patiently on You.
• Please help me to hold fast my confession of faith, for You Who promised are faithful.
• Please do not let me draw back to perdition, but help me believe to the saving of my soul.
• Please keep me from drawing back also because I want to please You, and Your Word says that Your soul has no pleasure in those who draw back.

Father, please forgive me for every ounce of doubt and unbelief in me.

Please forgive me for every bit of drawing back that I have done. I repent for it, Lord, and I humbly ask Your forgiveness. Please cover me with the blood of Jesus. Wash me clean in the saving and cleansing blood of Jesus, and fill me with Your Holy Spirit where all those things were.

Thank You, Abba Father. Thank You, Lord Jesus and precious Holy Spirit. I choose to wait on You. Please help me to be of good courage, and I pray that You would strengthen my heart. Please do not let me be ashamed, and let not my enemies triumph over me.

Thank You, Abba Father. You are God of my Help, and You always come on time–even if you wait until the midnight hour. I acknowledge and thank You for Your goodness, mercy, and grace, and I praise You for it.

Thank You, blessed Lord God. It is in Jesus’ mighty and matchless name I pray, amen.”

Wait on the Lord, beloved. He may be God of the Midnight Hour, but He will always show out on time for you.

Read Psalm 27:14 one more time:

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:13-14 NKJV).

And Isaiah 41:10:

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’” (Isaiah 41:10 NKJV).

Be of good courage today, my friend, and our faithful God will strengthen you, help you, and uphold you with His righteous right hand.

Did you need to hear this word today? If so, leave a comment below!