Words of Grace

By Rev. Mahlon Nevel

The disciples were trying to figure out what Jesus meant when he said: “A little while and you shall not see me, and again, a little while, and you shall see me, because I go to the Father” (John 16:16).

What Jesus was referring to was his upcoming death, his resurrection, and his second coming. He told his disciples that they would weep and lament, but the world would rejoice. They would be full of sorrow, but their sorrow would be turned into joy. (V. 20)

Jesus described a woman who was about to give birth. She was in Travail because her hour had come, but as soon as the baby was born, things changed. She began to forget all the anguish because of the joy that a baby had come into the world. (V.21)

That our sorrow will be turned into joy reminds us of the words found in Psalm 30:5. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Nehemiah wrote about “the joy of the Lord.” (Nehemiah 8:10) Joy comes from the Lord. In the presence of the Lord in heaven, there is “fullness of joy!” (Psalm 16:11)

It was Madam Guyon who wrote about this in a poem.
“Strong are the walls around me,
That hold me all the day;
But they who thus have bound me,
Cannot keep God away:
My very dungeon walls are dear
Because the God I love is here.”