Things will get worse before they get better!

John 16:20-23

Jesus told his disciples, "I am telling you the truth: you will cry and weep, but the world will be glad; you will be sad, but your sadness will turn into gladness. When a woman is about to give birth, she is sad because her hour of suffering has come; but when the baby is born, she forgets her suffering, because she is happy that a baby has been born into the world. That is how it is with you: now you are sad, but I will see you again, and your hearts will be filled with gladness, the kind of gladness that no one can take away from you."

Food for thought!

Yesterday, we marked the Ascension, that is, his return to heaven. Today's words were said before his return. He is saying to his disciples: "I am leaving you; but I am coming back. In between by going and my coming, you will have to go through terrible things, with pain like birthpangs upon you. But, if you faithfully endure, the blessings will be very precious." Jesus is saying that things will get worse before they get better. In other words, when we feel as though our life is falling apart, it’s really just falling into place in the hands of God. He’s taking our “Ending” and transforming it into His “Beginning.” So whenever you feel as though your life is falling apart, pause to notice that it’s really just falling into place, for God knows how to use everything, even the bad, for our good. (Rom. 8:28).

So don’t abandon your faith in God when hardships and sufferings come into your life; you might not be able to understand the reasons for the trials and tribulations in your life, God holds the answers. God has reasons for allowing it all. Your sufferings are part of a plan. You remember Joseph's words in the Old Testament? He said to his brothers: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good." (Genesis 50:20)

Our afflictions are never “meaningless.” They always have something to do with God’s greater purposes. God is present in our pain. Although we may not “see” Him . . . faith says, “He is.” And if God is present in our pain, stay calm and carry on and then: 

(i) Sorrow will turn to joy. There may be a time when it looks as if to be a Christian brings nothing but sorrow, and to be of the world brings nothing but joy. But the day will come when the roles are reversed. The world's careless joy will turn to sorrow; and the Christian's apparent sorrow will turn to joy. The Christian must always remember, when his faith costs him dear, that this is not the end of things and that sorrow will give way to joy.

(ii) There will be two precious things about this Christian joy.

(a) It will never be taken away. It will be independent of the chances and changes of the world. It is the simple fact that in every generation people who were suffering terribly have spoken of sweet times with Christ. The joy the world gives is at the mercy of the world. The joy which Christ gives is independent of anything the world can do.

(b) It will be complete. In life's greatest joy there is always something lacking; even when we are very happy, we experience some sadness. In every worldly joy they is some sadness; every worldly achievement there is some failure. We all have this funny feeling whenever we are contented, that this contentment will not last long. In Christian joy, the joy of the presence of Christ, there is no tinge of imperfection. It is perfect and complete.

(iii) In Christian joy the pain which went before is forgotten. The mother forgets the pain in the wonder of the child. The martyr forgets the agony in the glory of heaven. We all rejoice when, after much struggle and suffering, we are victorious. Jesus is just reminding us that true happiness and joy is that which comes after much fight and struggle. This is why, whenever we are faced with a choice, we must always choose not the easy one but the most difficult of the two choices, because it is this one that will bring us real joy.