(Audio)
When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.
There are times when it seems like the world is winning. It seems like the dark strategies of power, pleasure, and pride, are producing results while the Kingdom ways of humility and love are failing. The world rejoices for apparent success. We weep and mourn for all of the myriad ways in which the Kingdom is not yet come. Yet ours is the long view, are oriented toward fulfillment, toward joy.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies (see Romans 8:22-23).
All sufferings that are suffered in the Spirit, united with the life-giving act of Jesus on the cross, eventually give way to joy. It is not merely a joy that results from the fulfillment of a temporary desire that goes away as quickly as it comes. It is the joy of the coming to birth of the universe that was meant to be, free from sin and death. It is therefore a joy that cannot be taken from us.
So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.
And while this joy will only be ours in fullness at the end of time, on the day when we have no questions left to ask, it is meant to begin to define us even now.
On that day you will not question me about anything.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Our suffering can transform us and the world in such a way that it brings to birth new joy. Our own suffering can contribute to ending the power of sin and death in ourselves and the world. With grace, it can help us get out of our own way and receive those things which God desires for us. But we need to ask. When we become conscious of suffering we should know what to do.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (see Matthew 11:28).
We see in Jesus suffering turned to joy. We are united to him. We must not pretend to have a union with him that excludes these sufferings, as long as they are ours to bear. If we simply let him be with us, him and us and us in him, then our own sufferings will be transformed as a matter of course. We will find peace and rest for our souls.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church (see Colossians 1:24).
Without this engine of transformation at work in his own life Paul would not have been the effective missionary he proved to be. He was insulted, beaten, and imprisoned and yet he did not give up. This allowed him to remain in the presence of the Lord and to be attentive to his voice even when there was much that would tempt him to fear.
“Do not be afraid.
Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.
No one will attack and harm you,
for I have many people in this city.”
We often fear and fail to hear. This is because we haven't yet learned the lessons that suffering in Jesus can teach. We haven't yet truly begun to connect with a joy that the world is utterly unable to take from us. But we can. And so let us ask.
Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full (see John 16:24).
This prayer will allow us to shout with joy at the enthronement of God even hear and now, in faith, in hope, and in love.
God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy;
the LORD, amid trumpet blasts.
Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
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