Unabandoned

Author: Hope Breedlove of Joy In The Mourning Ministries

I have been reading through John recently and I am reminded how Jesus experienced grief as we do. One of the themes that sticks out to me of the possible ways Jesus could experience grief when the Pharisees do not understand His truth and continually choose not to.  I once heard it said in a sermon that I was listening to by Timothy Keller that Jesus experienced grief more than just mourning with Mary and Martha when Lazarus died. In addition to the grief of that present moment, Jesus was also mourning for what He was about to do on the cross.

Jesus experienced grief, but we know it does not end there; He overcame death. In John 16:19-22, Jesus talks about how we as followers of Christ will mourn when the world experiences joy and we will experience joy when the world is mourning. He goes on to say that it is like when a woman gives birth; for a moment it is painful, excruciatingly and almost unbearably, life-changing and world alteringly painful, but then the joy that the baby brings immediately swallows all the sorrow of those pains. He also says that the disciples will experience sorrow for the death He would experience on the cross. As we know for ourselves, although the weight of loss and grief are very real, when they (the disciples) realize the gift of Eternal life and the power of the resurrection, they will experience pure and deep rooted joy  (John 16:19-22).

Jesus allows and expects us to walk through the hard, long, and dark days of grief, but He knows we will also experience moments of joy throughout the grief. I find this encouraging because the Christian life is not easy, especially when the hard times seem to never cease. Jesus knows how this feels and He has experienced deep sorrow, but the best miracle of all, His death, burial, and resurrection, came from that suffering. God knows our suffering, He wants us to turn to Him because He loves us and is compassionate and will never leave His children abandoned.