Ewald Schmidt
“Jesus went on to say, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.’ ... ‘Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.’” John 16:16,20-22, NIV
Every person has this intense desire to be happy. We all seek times of joy in our lives. We experience joy when things go better than expected. We experience happiness and joy when our bodies perform well in sport, better than expected. This is also true for our relationships in life, in our place of work, basically in everything we do.
Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Jesus is our joy in life when we know and follow him as Lord, as we have seen in John 15:12. The apostle Paul also commanded in Philippians 4:4 that we should rejoice in the Lord, always, whatever the circumstances may be at that time.
We, however, also know times of grief. Jesus said in Matthew 5:4 that we are blessed when we mourn for all that has gone wrong in this world, including in our own lives. Today’s verse continues this theme. We are living in the time between Jesus’ ascension and his return. In this time period, we should expect times of mourning. We will experience the sadness of a broken world when it could be so much better. This world could almost feel like paradise if everyone knew Jesus as Lord and lived by his principles of love. Can you imagine a world where everyone loved everyone else in the way that Jesus loves them (John 15:12)!
This is the inner struggle that every believer faces today. On the one hand, we are extremely grateful to know Jesus as our Lord, and to see how he heals and transforms our lives. We experience his joy when our own lives, relationships and circumstances in daily life are being transformed for the better. On the other hand, we mourn the brokenness in our own lives and the world around us, not yet transformed to the image of Christ. Jesus says that this is to be expected; it is like the birth pains of a new world, the kingdom of God. When Jesus returns, the time for mourning will be gone forever. We now live in the expectation of Jesus’ return. We look forward to that day when there will be no more tears of sadness. This is Jesus’ promise today: the mourning we experience in these times is temporary, it will pass. The future is filled with eternal joy when we live with Christ, forever more. In addition, no one will be able to steal this joy!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are my joy in this life. It is the greatest joy to know you and to follow where you lead me. But, I mourn for the brokenness that sin has caused in this world, including in my own life. Help me to be part of your answer to the world’s pain. Help me to be a vessel for your love and grace, wherever I may go. Amen.