Midnight tends to be a busy hour in the bible.
At midnight, the bridegroom comes for His bride (see Matthew 25:6).
At midnight, Paul and Silas were found praying and singing hymns to God when suddenly there was an earthquake and their prison doors were opened and their chains were loosed (see Acts 16:25-26).
At midnight, God executed the tenth and final plague and struck the firstborn in Egypt (see Exodus 12:29).
At midnight, Samson demonstrated incredible feats of strength by ripping off the doors of the city and carrying them to the top of a mountain (see Judges 16:3).
At midnight, the psalmist arose and gave thanks to the Lord (see Psalm 119:62).
It’s also at midnight when the man in the parable found in Luke 11 encounters an unexpected visitor.
And it’s here that lies the rub.
The man was completely caught off guard.
It’s clear that he was not prepared to receive a guest of any kind.
This is evidenced by the fact that he had nothing to feed his visitor and his alarmed response of asking a friend for bread in order to care for his guest.
One thing is for certain: I don’t think many of us were prepared for what has recently come upon us.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that many of us were caught off guard.
See, that’s the thing about the midnight hour.
Many are asleep during this time.
Not only that, night is always the darkest at this hour.
Although it may seem dark and although many of us may have been unprepared, like the man in this parable, we know where to go.
He went to his friend for bread.
We go to Jesus for more of Him.
Midnight may signify a time where people are asleep, caught off guard, and unprepared, but it also speaks of a new day.
It echos a new beginning.
And God is getting ready to do a new thing.
The greatest thing we could be asking for in this season is not for the disappearance of Covid-19.
At the same time, there’s nothing wrong with that request, but I don’t think it’s the most important thing we could ask for.
The most significant thing we could ask for is the Holy Spirit.
It’s God Himself.
This is our great need.
And it’s the whole point of this parable.
The world is going to be looking for a new demonstration during and after this time.
The world is going to begin looking to and coming to the church for an encounter with God.
It needs bread.
We owe it to the world to be clothed with power, to be able to demonstrate the gospel.
We owe it to the world to look like Jesus and to be filled with mercy and compassion.
And we owe it to the world to take advantage of this time and run to the Lord so that we have
something to give.
A new day is dawning and a new demonstration is needed.
The new normal in the world will be met by a new demonstration in the church.
But it requires that we own our share of this prophetic word and continue to ask, seek, and knock until we are clothed with power from on high.
- Brian Connolly, Faith Like Birds Ministries
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