You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. (John 16:20)
When we understand what our Lord was telling His disciples then and His disciples today, we recognize that we have been given a promise of unimaginable blessing! Jesus had told His disciples that He was going the way of death, but He promised that they would see Him again after a little while. His death would lead to His resurrection, demonstrating His ultimate power over the entire universe, including the last enemy, death. The searing grief the disciples would experience on Good Friday when Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried, would turn into unimaginable gladness on that first Easter morning when Jesus walked out of the grave alive and well.
We always have a choice in how we will deal with what is going in our lives. We can live frustrated and defeated lives or we can live faithful and victorious lives, which we will do by keeping our focus on our Lord Jesus. Grief is real, and it is right and normal to grieve when we are facing the inevitable storms that are part of life in this fallen, broken world. But we do not grieve as those who have no hope. We hope in the One who conquered sin, Satan, and death. We trust that He is in control of every detail of our lives. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we will rise above the circumstances we are facing in life, because we are trusting in our Lord’s promise to turn our grief into gladness.
Remember, the power that is at work within you is greater than any power this world can bring against you. By trusting in Jesus and depending upon Him through every set of circumstances we face in life, we can rest in the promise He gave to His disciples 2,000 years ago: No one will take away our joy.
Give every grief to God; in His time and in His way, He will turn it all to gladness.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 