Gladness Is Coming

Photo by henry perks on Unsplash

You’re going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You’ll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness. -John 16:20

Oh the joy we have in knowing the outcome of this Friday! We can hold tightly to the promise of resurrection because we have celebrated Easter countless times before. We know scripture and the age old story of Jesus’s walk through Jerusalem, His crucifixion and His resurrection. We have seen it play out in many movies and read it in many children story books. Jesus will rise on the third day and so the sadness we feel on Friday is short lived, in fact, it is celebrated now.

Can we say the same about every other bad thing that happens? Do we trust this very promise when our lives are falling apart or when our government lets us down by allowing the murdering of unborn children? While the godless world celebrates victories around us, are we able to hold onto this truth that gladness will come? Friends, the same words that Jesus spoke right before His death on a cross are the same words meant to give us hope in all difficult circumstances. As we do our part through prayer and actively standing up for what is right, often the outcome we are seeking doesn’t come, and so we should hold onto this promise. God will bring redemption and peace in a world that is broken and disturbed. We must not let the world discourage us and steal our hope.

This week while you prepare for Easter and all it means in your life please don’t forget to apply God’s promise to the unseen as you do to the things you already know to be true. Stand firm on this promise of gladness in the midst of mourning. Claim this gladness in your own life and the world around you. Wait for this gladness to show up in your situation. It will come!