John 16:21-24

John 16:21-24

English Standard Version 

  Well, I've certainly never given birth to a child, or anything nearly as challenging as that, but I've done plenty of hard things.  When I think about triathlons I've competed in, they weren't easy, but at the moment when I crossed the finish line, there was nothing but joy.  The same is true for graduations -- I don't get dragged down by exhaustion from work that was done, but celebrate the accomplishment.

  In this life, there will be plenty of challenging moments.  We will undergo suffering and trials, both in our own lives and those around us.  At times, we'll likely wonder where God is and what God is doing.  There aren't often easy answers in those moments, but God promises us that those will pass, and that the fullness of joy is awaiting us on the other side of our suffering.  One day, there will be the fullness of joy, and the hope of this is what helps us push through the dark nights of the soul that we face.  Like a traveler on a lonely road in the dark of night, we wait for the dawn, knowing the stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty and we shall rejoice together one day.

John 16:16-20

John 16:16-20 

English Standard Version 

  So Jesus spends 3 years, every day, with the disciples.  He predicted his death and resurrection, speaking plainly about his ability to transform sorrow into joy, and yet when he died on the cross, what did the disciples experience?  Sorrow.  Were they filled with hope and expectation that their sorrow would turn into joy?  It didn't seem like it.  Thomas certainly didn't expect Jesus to turn his sorrow into joy.  He thought there was only sorrow.

  So, too, with us.  We have sorrow, and in the depth of our sorrow, it's so hard to remember Jesus' ability to turn sorrow into joy.  We forget, and we lack imagination, so we live in sorrow and doubt and fear, wondering if joy will come again in the morning.  

  It's so important to continue to pray for God's wisdom to guide our hearts, and for us to sit with those who are in sorrow -- they need someone to gently and compassionately remind them that there is joy for the sorrow, that there is sunrise for the night, that there is hope in despair. No matter how dark the night, there is always some light to shine, now and forever.

John 15:7-11

John 15:7-11 

English Standard Version 

  There's a lot of criticism of workplace environments lately, and I think there's a lot of valid questions being asked about the nature of work and how we interact with our work environments.  Work should be a two-way street, where the employee offers time and gifts to the workplace, and the employer offers compensation and fulfillment to the employee.  When that balance gets out of whack, one way or the other, things fall apart, because there's a lack of mutual trust.

  When we think about church, we often think about what we give, in terms of time and money, and it's important to think about what God wants to give you.  Jesus longs for our joy to be full.  Jesus doesn't just want us to be happy and be at peace, although he wants that for us, but a fullness of joy that pervades, that has depth, that lasts, now and forever.  That's what God wants to give us.  What could we give back?  We give everything back, with joy, knowing that God is giving us even more than we could possibly give.

John 15:1-5

John 15:1-5 

English Standard Version 

  No church ever puts an advertisement out on the church sign that people should come check out the community and find out how God will prune them!  Not exactly a winning slogan, but that's the teaching from Jesus Christ -- that God prunes those who are bearing fruit, in the hopes that there will be even more fruit.

  So when we come across challenges in our walk with God, when we feel like we're running into a wall, may we have the openness to the Holy Spirit to wonder how God might be pruning us, that we may be drawn even closer into community with God and with one another.