19 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'? 20 I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 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. 22 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.”
Here our Lord gives His guys a solemn prediction - their forth-coming grief would ultimately be swallowed up in overwhelming joy. Jesus’ illustration of a woman giving birth perfectly demonstrates and reinforces His words – the anguish and travail of the labor would not be worth mentioning compared to the joy and delight the child would bring. Likewise, our present sufferings – our pain and anxiety and desires for deliverance - will be as nothing in comparison to Christ’s return as it shall be a source of boundless joy to all His believing people. Paul tells us:
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:18 (NIV)
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor 4:16-18 (NIV)
“Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.” Thomas V. Moore
It is a normal state of things to groan while Christ is not physically in our midst. When the sun sets the sunflower hangs its head. Believers should be longing for our Lord’s appearing which will both be the perfection of our happiness and joy and the fulfillment of all our hopes.
“A groan is a matter about which there is no hypocrisy.” Charles H. Spurgeon
Peter stretches our insight regarding our future joy with the following verses:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV)
“To added affliction He addeth His mercy, to multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.” Annie Johnson Flint
We must always let the eyes of our faith be fixed on His coming. Our focus should not only look backward to the cross and rejoice that our sins have been forgiven or upward to the right hand of God where Jesus is our constant intercessor but also forward to His second coming when His glorious kingdom will be established. We are presently living in the Church age of His-story – just as His disciples did after our Lord’s ascension – a period marked with pain, sorrow and tribulation. Again and again suffering and glory are paired in Scripture – it is a given. We live in a fallen world where heartbreak is not uncommon yet we are to remain hopeful, joyful and fearless with a focus on the future. Peter tells us we are to have a predetermined mindset towards this way of holy living regarding our Lord’s return:
13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:13 (NIV)
The promise of Scripture states it will not be this way forever. The toil and anguish of this world will be no more remembered as a heart filled and satisfied with joy will be our lot. That’s what faith really is – the “unwavering trust in the heart of God in the hurt of here” as Ann Voskamp so eloquently puts it.
“Though assaults be many, and my enemies mighty, if God strengthen me, I have enough to comfort me; for the greater my enemy, the more glorious my victory; and the more glorious my victory, the more triumphant my glory.” K.H. Von Bogatzky