JOHN 16:17-24
I questioned several friends about their most trying or painful experience. Their responses included experiencing war, getting divorced, having surgery, and losing a loved one. “The birth of my first child,” a woman responded. However, she claimed that in retrospect, she finds it delightful since “the anguish had a significant purpose.”
Jesus informed His followers that they would soon experience intense suffering just before He went to the cross. The Lord compared their impending experience to a woman giving birth, whose agony transforms into joy when her child is delivered (John 16:20–21).
We experience sorrow at various points in our lives. However, Jesus brings us joy that goes beyond all of our suffering.
🙏🏻 Father, thank You that even my pain can be a tool in Your hands to make me more like Your Son.
