“I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.”

Of course these words of Jesus in John 16 refer to the specific sadness and its overturn that the first disciples were about to experience as Jesus went to the cross. However, at the same time, there is a principle of spiritual life here if we can receive it. The principle is this: sorrows become birth pangs of future life and even joy.

I often quote Henri Nouwen. He says what I want to say, but more beautifully and memorably. I am thinking of how he expresses this truth: “…what seems a hindrance becomes a way; what seems an obstacle becomes a door; what seems a misfit becomes a cornerstone.”

When Jesus is allowed to be Lord in our sorrows, as we wait in patience and expectation that trust in the goodness of His Father and ours awakens, it can become a preparation time for Kingdom of God joy to be birthed once more.

What a promise and declaration! “Your weeping will be turned to joy!” Don’t push that word away in frustration. May God give you this day even a passing moment of quietness from the clamouring that so often fills our souls, to be able to say, “Yes, Lord,” to His word.

God bless

Kenny