John 16: 19 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’? 20 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. 21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow
because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she
no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into
the world. 22 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.
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Seeing the broken
glass made my heart race. I looked into my car and to my dismay, all of my music
had been stolen. All of that hard work, meticulously collecting the right songs
that pleased my moods, was gone. I was not very happy.
- I have been robbed.
- I have had thieves threaten to shoot me.
- I have lost several items to burglars, liars and people who I was supposed to trust, stealing ideas, to claim it as their own.
JESUS explains the
temporary nature of sorrow. It will only be here for a little while. BUT GOD has
a remedy for sorrow that surpasses all understanding.
- GOD wants me to focus on joy rather than happiness.
- GOD wants me to be filled with joy rather than fleeting pleasure.
- GOD wants me to take joy into difficult days with difficult people.
Happiness, I find,
is fleeting. I mean when things are new and shiny, I may be “happy”, but when
the thing gets old, rusty or torn, I may not be as pleased with it. BUT GOD
wants me to have something that lasts forever, namely joy.
When I am filled
with joy, pain becomes temporary. I mean, when that stuff is stolen, or that
person is causing strife, joy kicks in and enables me to calm down from being
riled up. Joy doesn’t always stop me from getting angry, hurt or upset, but it
is there to soothe me back to a place where I can see and hear GOD. No one can
steal my joy because it comes from GOD.
- Are you hurting and trying to be happy by the world’s standards?
- Do you think happiness is the goal?
- Will you ask GOD for joy that is overflowing and can cover all of your situations you may ever face?
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