Watching for the Morning - by Vaneetha Risner (Hardcover)

About the Book

Suffering comes for us all, but whether we walk with bitterness or joy through it is up to us. This 90-day devotional will help you walk through suffering with joy because you walk it with Christ.

Book Synopsis

Have your tears lasted more than a night as you've been watching for the morning? Does the waiting feel too hard and God too distant?

Waiting, watching, hoping - these words describe how Vaneetha lived for years, after her once-comfortable life dissolved in front of her. She pleaded with God to fix her situation and stop the pain in the midst of an escalating illness, the death of a child, and an unwanted divorce. But instead of doing what she asked for, God gave her something even more wonderful. He offered Himself.

This devotional will help you find hope in whatever you're facing today as it grapples with the inevitable questions:

• How do we embrace the present moment with its pain and imperfections instead of just waiting for our problems to disappear?
• How do we live with uncertainty, trusting that God is doing something beautiful in what appears to be an empty silence?
• How do we wait for God, satisfied in him alone, without insisting on the outcome we want?

These 90 devotions are for anyone who is waiting in the dark, wondering when life will get better. Some reflections will encourage you to press on, some will help you process your losses, others will make you laugh, and still others will show you the gift of lament, in both its grittiness and grace. Ultimately, they're all intended to draw you closer to the God who is always for you - who is nearer than you know and loves you more than you can imagine.
Weeping may last for the night but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

Review Quotes

"During harrowing nights when post-polio quietly ravages her already-frail body, my friend Vaneetha knows what it's like to watch for the morning. She is rowing upstream against a tide of increasing pain and diminishing strength. Yet for all the times she's waited for the morning, this valiant sister in Christ has learned to wait on him. She still strains against the oars, but she is providing a wide wake in which we can find safe, trustworthy teaching and true biblical hope. I heartily recommend Watching for the Morning, as well as the fine character of my pain-pal, Vaneetha Risner. So, flip to the first page and begin a hope-filled 90-day journey gleaning simple, sage wisdom for your own struggles."
- Joni Eareckson Tada
Joni and Friends International Disability Center

"Watching for the Morning is a gift to sufferers, hope-watchers, and those living beneath life's brewing storm clouds. Through honest story-telling and theologically rich Bible teaching, Vaneetha cups our tear-stained faces with her hands, looks us in the eye with compassion, and reminds us of the power, strength, and sufficient grace we have in Christ."
-- Gretchen Saffles
Bestselling author of The Well-Watered Woman: Rooted in Truth, Growing in Grace, Flourishing in Faith, Founder of Well-Watered Women

"Vaneetha Risner walks intimately with God and is not only a trusted companion through the darkest nights, but never fails to bring the hopeful light of Christ to every moment of waiting and longing. These pages shimmer with brilliant hope."
-- Ann Voskamp
New York Times bestselling author of WayMaker and One Thousand Gifts

About the Author

Vaneetha Risner is the author of Desperate for Hope, a 7-week study on suffering. Vaneetha and her husband Joel live in Raleigh, NC, where she writes at vaneetha.com, encouraging readers to turn to Christ in their pain.