Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. Therefore, you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
Memory Verse: Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5b
So many things in life have been positioned to rob us off our joy and every single day we wake up, there is suddenly a new addition of threat to the list already existing and this can become overwhelming for us as human beings to deal with. We then either get to a position of constant battles with the mind of how to deal with all the challenges of life that threatens our pace of mind and attempts to rob off us our joy.
This was the state of mind of the disciples as well. Jesus already told them that He will be betrayed and handed over to the enemy to be crucified but it just seems like every time Jesus spoke about it, they had a new thing to worry about. Jesus however focused more on trying to stabilize their emotions by reassuring them at several intervals that the whole process He was about to go through was for their own good. How do you reassure a loved one that the pains they are going through is for the best?
Jesus leaving HIs disciples was definitely not a good news for them. Their hearts were filled with sorrow but Jesus didn’t leave them in that state because He quickly reassured them saying “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” John 16:7. Jesus was able to solidify their joy in His absence by sending them the Holyspirit who will be with them 24/7 all day and every day. This ensured contrary to what their ignorant minds were thinking they were about to have unlimited joy.
We will experience time of weeping and lamenting in life as those are emotions intertwined with sudden change in circumstances which feels unbearable but as Christians we live on the word of God that assures us that joy comes every morning. Every day is loaded with new benefits and abundance of joyful things from God but being stuck in the previous days blinds us from seeing what the Lord has embedded in the new day.
Jesus didn’t want His disciples to live in sadness but in the abundance of His joy and that has not changed. The devil throws so many things at us in an attempt to steal our joy but because God is our Father, the devil has nothing on us and nothing he attempts to do will ever separate us from the Joy God has blessed us with. There is a lot of Joy in our future and our future is every new day with the spirit of God living in us and nothing can take away the spirit of God from us.
The disaster round the world, your troublesome boss, lack of money, the political climate, unemployment, racial injustice, failed hopes, unfulfilled desires and the rest alike can never take your joy away. Nothing and no one can take away the joy because Jesus has overcome the world ahead of all the tribulations that was and is to come John 16:33.
PRAYERS:
- Father I thank you for another wonderful week just concluded
- Thank you for your anointing and grace over my life
- I receive the encouragement through the Holy Spirit
- I will not relent in Jesus name and nothing will steal my Joy
- Forgive me of all my shortcomings O Lord and let your mercy prevail over judgement
- Thank you Lord for answers to prayers, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.
