THE FACTS OF LIFE

John 16:20  Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.

The facts of life are simple.  There are times of sorrow and times of joy.  Times of weeping and times of celebration.  It is hard to understand why these 2 emotions are so intertwined yet they are.  Life has so many different twists and turns that sometimes our head spins out of control.  Death happens and we become overwhelmed with sorrow.  Life happens and our thoughts take a nose dive in the wrong direction.  We become confused and our vision becomes cloudy.  Our thoughts fill with doubt and fear.  Why?  What happened?  We have tons of questions but no answers. 

Tears fill our eyes and ramble down our cheeks.  Our eyes become puffy and sore.  The sorrow is just so deep that we feel like we will never rejoice again.  The pain from loss and fear of the unknown can lead us down a path of sheer destruction.  Unbearable sorrow grips us and will not let us go.  We shed a lake full of tears, yet our sorrow remains.  Nothing seems to take away the deep sorrow we feel.  We watch and see others going through sorrow and pain, yet we feel that our sorrow is the worst.  This cut has hurt us deep and the sorrow is so deep we could easily sink into this pit of despair and never be seen again.  

Sound familiar?   I know when my dad died I felt this way.  I cried for weeks, heck even months later a simple word or thought would make me burst out in tears.  The pain enveloped me and took over my heart.  My smile had disappeared.  I actually remember hearing people at work say, "I'd just like to see her smile again."  The thing about sorrow for me is I was weeping for myself.  I had lost the man who raised me, the man who carried me to bed when I was little, the man who showed me how to grow a garden, the man who protected me and kept me safe, the man who loved me first.  My sorrow was deep.  

When Jesus spoke in this verse about our sorrow being turned into joy, I thought that was a bunch of hog wash, but now I get it.  I can look over my life with my dad and rejoice.  Joy fills my heart now.  The memories put a twinkle in my eyes and fill my heart with joy.  Oh sure a tear still forms in my eyes when I think of Him, but it not because of my sorrow, it's because of memories, it's because of the joy that returned to me.  

Yes, death is painful and sorrowful for those left behind, but when we know where our loved ones are spending eternity, we will ultimately rejoice.  We know that we will see them again in heaven.  We have comfort knowing they believe in Jesus Christ.  We have peace knowing they are with Jesus Christ.  

Lord, please help our sorrow be turned into joy knowing that we will once again see our loved ones in heaven.  Help our memories bring us the joy in Jesus name I pray, amen