“Ask And You Will Receive,

And Your Joy Will Be Complete”

At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

John 16:17-24

What has been the most difficult time of your life? War, divorce, surgery, the loss of a friend? Many people will say childbirth, but as we look back we can see that the birth gave us a time to rejoice, and no one can ever take that joy from us.

Sorrow comes all along our road of life. Just when things seem to be good, health issues, money and job issues come up. Our age definitely work against us. But for Jesus that loss meant he endured death on the cross, being despised, and experiencing the shame. However, when it was all over, He had risen from the dead, and we could open our hearts to him. His painful sacrifice accomplished God’s eternal purpose of opening the way to friendship with Him.

The joy of our Savior outweighed His suffering, just as the joy He gives us overshadows all our pain.

Suffering can be like a magnet that draws the Christian close to Christ.

Our Daily Bread – April 1, 2015