Your Sorrow Will turn to Joy. Friday Sixth Week of Easter

Breakfast With the Word Friday Sixth Week of Easter

John 16:20-23

How do you feel whenever you hear a statement like the one above? Some feel good and give a loud Amen, some people  overlook it, with the reason that it is not the first time they have heard this yet nothing happens while some will  strongly believe.

Sometimes we hear this every time and shout amen but our attitudes and actions go otherwise. We still live like people without hope. Our actions, beliefs and words dance in opposition.  And this continues to affect us. Some who overlook it as mere words forgot that this is one of Jesus’ exact promises to His disciples.

Jesus knows He is separating Himself finally from the apostles. He knows  How painful this might cause. How people are going to laugh and cajole them, He knows the bigger task ahead and how mightily it will besiege on His disciples. Then, Jesus assures them not to worry. He promises them that there is always joy at the end. This is an encouragement that working and suffering for Jesus can never and will never go unrewarded, if not here, but certainly here after. Your Sorrow will turn to Joy one day.  For nothing in life is permanent.

The Certainty

The promise is certain because it comes from Jesus. He does not lie nor forget to keep His promises. We might be suffering now but we have to always know we are not alone.

God whom you trust sees all and can never abandon you at last. Your Sorrow will turn to Joy when you least expect it.

The World may rejoice now but you will have the last laugh. Whatever pain you are going through, always know there is always light at the end of the tunnel for the fact you did not lose your faith along the way.

To illustrate this, our Lord uses the beautiful figure of childbirth. A woman carries a child for 9 months and is bearing the burden because she is hopeful that something good will come out of it. This is the type of faith God expects us to possess.

3 . Secondly, when a woman is in labour she has pain. This is like a price mothers pay for the child to be born. When we have the price given to us, we should not complain. Every prize comes from a price,  just as every child was a product of the Labour room.

4 . This indicates that difficulties, challenges, Pain, suffering and many uncertainties of life are not supposed to  be the final word for the follower of Jesus. It is a pain that is in labour to bring forth something good. Especially the joy of eternal life.

Therefore, whatever pain you pass through now may be one of the things you supposed to meet before you achieve your goal.

Jesus promises His disciples, because He knows they will suffer but He also knows that their suffering is not a dead end. There is still hope for them. In the same way, we do not live as those who do not have hope.

When you are undergoing a sorrowful moment, do not put a dead end to it when God has not. Do not give up on yourself when God has not. There is still Victory at the end. There is Light at the end of the tunnel.

Jesus reminds His disciples about the joy at the end when He says “Your Sorrow Will Turn Joy“. In essence, the sorrows at the moment can still change to Good. It also means that no sorrow is permanent. Also, it means that after a sorrowful times, comes a joyful time.

Once a child is born,  the pain and distress experienced by the mother is changed into joy at the safe birth of her baby.

Relatively all the pain of giving birth is forgotten, so great is the joy of bringing a child into the world. This is how it will be at last for the children of God.

One beautiful thing about this promise is that it came from Jesus. One surprising thing about it, is that the very thing that caused sorrow is also going to be the cause of our joy. He takes the very thing that causes us heartache and sorrow and turns it into a cause of joy. So let us keep our hope alive!!

May God never abandon us and May your light shine even when all hope is lost Amen.