Your Pain Will Turn to Joy

John 16:19,20 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. (NRSV)

God has this knack of taking our greatest disasters and turning them into His greatest victories. And there’s no greater disaster in all of history than the lifeless body of Jesus hanging upon that Cross.

What’s the greatest disaster that’s ever befallen you? That one event that almost tore you apart? Perhaps you’re even in the middle of it right now. Hold that thought as we dive into the greatest disaster of all:

John 16:19,20 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. (NRSV)

The plot to assassinate Jesus hung so thick over those disciples that you could have cut the air with a knife. They were afraid not only that their beloved Jesus would be crucified but that they’d be nailed to a cross too.

And you can imagine that when it did finally happen, they were bereft. They wept. Just as you and I have wept amidst our own disasters down through the years.

But into their tears, into our tears … into your tears, the very One to be nailed to that Cross speaks these words:

Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.

That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.