Grief Turned Into Joy
A crazy thought—We walk by faith and not by sight. Truly, to the watching, unbelieving world, this thought is crazy, for how can we believe in that which we cannot see.
Yesterday I walked across the street to visit a new mother and her baby. A tiny girl had been born, a sweet baby, and I wished to take a gift and to see the baby. We chatted a bit, and then the grandmother (who was also present) took the baby from the mother’s arms and placed the newborn into my arms. She was so tiny, even at nine pounds. She was beautiful. For the last two weeks, this new one had lived outside her mother’s body, learning how to eat, how to survive, now that she was no longer cocooned inside the womb. During the time I sat holding this little girl, I began to rest my thoughts upon this fact—WE ARE CALLED TO WALK BY FAITH & NOT BY SIGHT.
Jesus taught His disciples what was to come when He was crucified, and like us, they struggled to fully understand. They could not see the future as Jesus could. Eternity seemed (to them) to be so far away from today. Even we might say the same, but we need to see heaven in our mind—even as we walk here on earth.
JESUS taught this lesson to His followers.
“A little while,
(The Gospel According to John 16: 16-22 NAS)
and you will no longer see Me.
and again a little while,
and you will see Me.”
Some of His disciples then said to one another,
“What is this thing He is telling us,
‘A little while, and you will not see Me;
and again a little while,
and you will see Me’; and,
‘because I go to the Father’?”
So they were saying, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’?
We do not know what He is talking about.”
Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them,
“Are you deliberating together about this, that I said,
‘A little while, and you will not see Me,
and again a little while, and you will see Me’?
Truly, truly,
I say to you,
that you will weep and lament,
but the world will rejoice;
you will grieve,
but your grief will be turned into joy.
Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain,
because her hour has come;
but when she gives birth to the child,
she no longer remembers the anguish
because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.
Therefore you too have grief now;
but
I will see you again,
and
your heart will rejoice,
and
no one will take your joy away from you.”
Childbirth can seem like an eternity, for both the expectant parent and for those who await the birth of the child. However, for the mother who is experiencing the birth of her child, the experience is REAL.
- She REALLY feels the pain.
- She REALLY wants the pain to be finished.
- She REALLY desires with every fiber of her being for her baby to be born.
The mother knows the grief, anguish, and pain required to birth her child, and whether she remembers God’s command given to the first woman Eve or not, we do not know.
“To the woman He said,
(Genesis 3: 16 NAS)
“I will greatly multiply
Your pain in childbirth,
In pain you will bring forth children;
Yet your desire will be for your husband,
And he will rule over you.”
God knew from the beginning man would rebel against God.
God purposed from the beginning to send Jesus, His only Son.
“Mary said to the angel,
(The Gospel According to Luke 1: 34-35 NAS)
“How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered and said to her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”
Grief comes because of the enmity Almighty God put between the first man and woman. It came because of their sin, because of their fall from grace—BUT GOD MADE A WAY TO COMPLETE RESTORATION! HE SENT HIS ONLY SON—JESUS CHIRST, THE SAVIOR!
- So, we may grieve, but not like those without HOPE.
- What seems to be an eternity of time turns to JOY—Everlasting—Eternal—JOY!
We need to see heaven in our mind—even as we walk here on earth.
“Therefore, being always of good courage,
(The 2nd Letter of Paul to the Corinthians 5: 6-8 NAS)
and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord
—for we walk by faith, not by sight—
we are of good courage, I say,
and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”