The Best of the Portals of Prayer

Read: John 16:16-23 / Psalm 75

“You have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice.”
John 16:22

Sorrow Turned to Joy

The Christian life is movement. We move on, always in anticipation of what our Lord will do for us. We know he has completed the work of our salvation for us. We also know that He has not yet completed His work in us. We will experience the totality of His saving work when we enter His eternity. Our Lord’s disciples experienced this sense of anticipation when they stood with Him on this side of death. Jesus prepared then for His death, resurrection, and ascension by announcing His departure.
The interval during which they experienced his absence His absence was a picture of the
Church as it waits to see Him again. And as the disciples saw the Lord again in resurrection appearances, we see Him in Word and Sacrament. Our waiting to see Him in eternity is not without it’s pain and sorrow. As our Lord endured the agony of Gethsemane and the cross, so the church suffers as it waits. But as the forgets the anguish of childbirth, so our sorrow and pain will be turned to joy when we see Him again in eternal glory.
Heavenly Father, give us Your Spirit, that we may live in anticipation of joy we have in Christ Jesus. Amen.

April 15, 1967