"Midnight" is the first released song of Rita Springer's upcoming album. She shares, "For me, Midnight has always felt like the darkest part of night. My life has been a series of waiting. Waiting on God to make good on His words and all His promises. Twelve is a big number in Scripture. God seems to like these two numbers put together. As the 'Bridegroom,' He waits to show up until midnight. Even Boaz finds Ruth (Ruth 3:8) laying at his feet, at midnight. I wrestled with this and as I went into write a record about Light, I had to address the hour of midnight. I had been tossing questions at God and one night He simply replied to my whine about why he seemed to be the last hour God. He reminded me that midnight, to me the darkest hour, was actually the first hour of the new day. It was dawn. Here I was thinking he was waiting when he was actually arriving at the first hour.
I walked into the studio at Capital with Mia Fieldes and Bede Korporaal and told them I wanted to write about how God doesn’t wait for sunrise… He moves at midnight. The song was written as the three of us sat in the reality of this truth. I cannot think of a more appropriate time to release the first song of this new record of Light, by telling the story of a first hour God rushing in to show himself never late, always right on time!"
In this exclusive guest blog post, Rita dives deeper into the story behind her new song "Midnight."
The God of MIDNIGHT by Rita Springer
February of 2019, I began a journey to start writing for this new record. Honestly, at this point, I just asked God if there is another record. I figure he will tell me when to stop recording. After Battles was released in 2017, I didn’t know what would follow it. I was chatting it up with God one afternoon and he said, “I want another record.” I then asked what He wanted.
“Follow up your last album of fight with an album of LIGHT,” He said.
That had me curious and chasing every word. So, I sat with the idea of Light and how it could be written. It had me thinking about sunrise. The way light breaks out of the dark and makes a statement. The worst can happen in the night but the daybreak seems to say, “Forget the former… behold a new thing emerges."
My life has been a waiting game. If I could paint a picture it would be me waiting on a bench for a bus that never showed. That is what life and dreams and promises have sometimes made me feel like. What refutes that is the goodness of God and His truth combating every lie that says 'He forgets.' I have wrestled with why God waits. His timing is perfect but he seems to like to take his own sweet time answering prayers. My life has been about coming into peace with that timing and believing that He has the best plan and it fits inside that perfect timing.
He is not the last moment God.
I have noticed that he loves the number 12 - a LOT. He chose 12 tribes, 12 disciples, and midnight seems to be a time zone he loves in scripture. My questions were why it seemed He was the God who waited for the last second to come, to intervene and to answer. I remember how He spoke one day in the middle of a complaint and reminded me that He is not the last moment God. He is the midnight God in the first hour of dawn! Dawn, the first hour of a new day! It was there, hanging like a massive painting in an entryway. I had missed it. I was blaming him for being late and he was showing me he is first hour, right on time God!
It changed my perspective and allowed me to see him the way he wanted me to see him. Regardless of the waiting his intention was to be known as the one who arrives before sunrise. He actually sits with us in the dark until that dark dissipates into light. A seen sunrise is like a shout from Heaven announcing that He remembers we need LIGHT and He remembers that light breaks off the darkness and moves us toward hope. I am aware that this concept isn’t a news flash, but for me, in that moment, it was. I needed to be reminded and I needed to be told that all the waiting was not God stalling, but God fully aware of what He is doing. I needed to be expectant in the waiting.
He is a Midnight God.
The Bridegroom arrives in Matthew 25, at MIDNIGHT. The drama before that has 10 virgins waiting with their lamps all lit. The problem is only five had extra oil for the long wait. Those five, I believe, are the ones who prepare for the timing of God. The ones who know God is still in control even if it feels like it would have been a better afternoon wedding than a midnight one.
Writing the first single was a gift. To be able to put into verses and a chorus that He isn’t late, and even in delay, He is hope and rescue. My favorite lyrics are found in the bridge.
“You will walk me past my valley, You will sing me through my trials, You will see me to my break through, You will lead me to your promise.’’
He is the God of dusk and dawn. He comes before sunrise. He answers. He is a Midnight God who is always right… on… time.
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