Todd Johnson
Family Pastor
John 16:20-22
“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
No one can take my JOY from me! What comforting words spoken by Jesus in these verses. He also mentions that you will have sorrow and you will weep and lament. If I am being honest, I wish I never had to deal with sorrow in my life but we live in a fallen, sinful world and choosing to follow Christ, guarantees that you will have hardship. The key truth to focus on here though is that you will still have JOY despite the pain.
I can remember when my wife, Bethany, gave birth to our first son and she chose to go natural with no epidural. She was amazing as she worked on breathing and doing other exercises with the end goal of birthing a healthy baby boy. I cannot even imagine what that pain had to be like for her, yet she pushed through. The next day, she told me that she could do that again because the result was a beautiful, healthy baby boy. Bethany literally lived these words that Jesus said and found the JOY that came after the anguish. I love to see God’s Word in action and truth.
I have buried my wife, my mom, and my dad in less than two years. My sorrow is great but the peace and mercy that is overflowing in my life is greater. My hope is in Christ and the JOY that I have knowing that all three of them are whole and have no pain, helps me smile through the tears. The enemy will always be trying to steal your JOY so keep your focus on Christ and you will never lose the JOY that comes from knowing Him.