The Dawn of Joy!

What is our intent? To show how pain can turn to joy.

What is the obstacle? Pain can overwhelm us so that we see nothing else.

What is the plan? See that God has a purpose for pain.

What is the result? Close with a climactic scene, what things will look like IF we follow the plan. For the child of God, pain is the precursor joy.

Introduction:

Things that come before other things and tell us what to expect next.

When driving down the highway, we know how close we are to our destination when we see a sign that tell us how many miles we are away.

We know it’s going to rain when the sky fills with dark clouds. Or if you are blessed with arthritis you may know a day or two ahead of a change of weather even if the sky is clear!

There is a tongue in cheek saying about how you know an opera is going to end. The opera isn’t over until . . . the fat lady sings.

We like to know when the next thing is going to happen, particularly if what we are experiencing isn’t pleasant.

Kids are famous for wanting to know when the boring ride in the car is going to end. They ask, “how many minutes until we get there?”

We are exasperated as adults when the kids keep asking and asking for two reasons. One, what they are going through isn’t that bad. Two, we can tell them exactly how many minutes it is, but they don’t have the ability to understand the concept of time. What is one hour versus two to a child?

Okay, so what about adults? Are we guilty of asking “how many minutes until we get there?” Usually not of other adults, but sometimes we are guilty of asking God, “How long until this pain is over?”

There are as many examples of pain situations as there are people listening to this message. There is actual physical pain, migraines, back pain, etc. There is the pain of loneliness. There is the pain of a broken heart, the pain of discouragement from unrealized dreams. I could go on an on, but then my message would become it’s own sources of pain adding to your pain.

Today we’re going to look at a conversation Jesus had with his disciples in which he preemptively tried to prepare them for pain and gave them insight into how to get through the pain.

The conversation takes place a short while before Jesus was arrested. He told them he was going away and although they didn’t fully understand, they were sad.

John 16:6 ESV

6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

He told them he was going to send the Holy Spirit to be with them, but that had the same impact as telling a child, “it’s two hours and 10 minutes until we arrive.” The disciples heard him, but didn’t grasp it. Next he says this:

John 16:16–20 ESV

16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 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.

He told them he was going away for a little while and the would see him again. They heard him, but they didn’t understand. This is likely a reference to Jesus’s death followed on the third day by his resurrection. That’s what he told them but they didn’t understand. Jesus said, “are you asking what I meant?” v. 19

God prepares us for pain. John 16:16, John 15:18-20

John 16:16 ESV

16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

John 15:18–20 ESV

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

Pain is part of God’s plan. It was for Jesus and it is for us. It was through pain that Jesus broke the power of sin and redeemed us.

Have you considered that pain will lead to good? We are not fatalistic, thinking only that pain is inevitable.

The next point logically follows the first.

God permits pain in our lives. John 16:20a, John 16:6

John 16:20 ESV

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.

John 16:6 ESV

6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Jesus knew that his disciples would be sorrowful when he died. Sorrow is a terrible feeling. It can seem like our world is crashing in upon us. It can seem like our very heart is breaking in two.

Yet God permits it.

There are many examples of God allowing pain in people’s lives in the Bible. Joseph comes to mind. He was sold as a slave, falsely accused of a crime, imprisoned and forgotten about.

God permits pain not because he is sadistic and enjoys seeing people suffer. He permits pain because he knows it can benefit us.

The benefit of Jesus’s pain is our salvation. Jesus would experience great sorrow from physical punishment and the pain of bearing our punishment for sin and the pain of separation from the Father. Would you rather Jesus not experienced that sorrow?

The disciples would go through the sorrow of thinking their friend, their mentor, their teacher was dead.

What is the benefit God is working through your pain? All pain has the potential to accomplish God’s will.

God produces through our pain. John 16:21-24

John 16:21–24 ESV

21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Is there any greater pain than giving birth to a child? Arguably there is not. Yet, many women choose to experience that pain more than once. How is that possible? Is it just that they forget their pain? No.

We just moved. The last time we moved was 11 years ago. It was painful. I don’t want to move again and won’t until I forget the work, time, energy, cost and inconvenience of moving. It’s going to take a few years.

Yet a mother will choose to have another baby, not because she has forgotten the pain, but because of the joy of having a baby!

Pain, when understood as coming from the hands of our loving Father, can result in joy.

When I was in my 20’s, I was not walking with God. I made some bad business decisions and ended up with a huge debt, around $250,000. God used the pain of that debt to bring me back to him and to teach me how he can provide even for debt that was my fault. I’m glad I went through that and learned the lessons that I did. I’m glad means I have joy that I had such pain. And no one can ever take that joy away from me.

I can give you several examples like that. Can you give me an example?

Can you see the pain you are going through is going to produce that positive result? When you get to the other side you will look back and have joy at what God did in your life and you wouldn’t want to change any of it because like a mom giving birth to a child, you are seeing the dawn of joy in your life that no one can take away from you.

Pain can turn into joy when we understand what Jesus says.

They were bewildered at Jesus’s words, but they were true. Those words aren’t for you and me, but Jesus has words for us.

What does Jesus say about your pain? Have you asked him? He may tell you, but what if you don’t hear from him? Then we use what we know and understand to give perspective to our pain.

God loves us. God is in control. Knowing both of those truths means that if we are in pain, it is not because God wants to hurt us. With God, pain always has a purpose.

Many things don’t make sense to us, sickness, failure, injustice, but what God says does make sense.

Why is this happening to me, to a loved one, in the world? It is painful. It isn’t what I expected.

But what does Jesus say? You may experience overwhelming pain, but that isn’t the end.

God means for sorrow to turn into joy. Do we understand that?

Sickness and death was not God’s intention for us or this world. God’s intention

Pain can turn to joy when we believe what Jesus says.

With God our sorrow will always be turned to joy when we believe Him. The evidence that we believe Him is hope. Grief without hope is devastating. 1 Thess. 4:13-14

God’s path of hardship will lead to joy. Always!

How can I say always? It isn’t that hardship always leads to joy, it is that it can always lead to joy. That is God’s plan for us, to have “joy inexpressible and filled with glory.” 1 Peter 1:18

Grief turning to joy is different from grief followed by joy. In the first case, the absence of pain brings joy. In the second, the pain causes joy. The cause of pain becomes the cause of joy.

When you are sick you are in pain. When the sickness passes you have joy. Not because you were sick, but because the sickness is gone.

The cause of pain means it has a purpose, it isn’t random. The cause of the pain of pregnancy is to have a baby. The pain causes joy.

Any grief and pain can be a cause of joy when we believe what God says about our pain.

What does God say about why you have pain?

to experience and share God’s comfort in all our troubles 2 Cor. 1:3-4. God wants to use us comfort others.

to share in the sufferings of Christ for a future blessing. 1 Peter 4:12-13

to prepare us an eternal weight of glory. 2 Cor. 4:17

to turn from sin and back to God. Hebrews 12:5, 11.

to grow in our faith. James 1:2-3.

Pain can turn to joy if we do what Jesus says.

When you experience grief, that grief can cause joy when we believe God and act on it. We act by asking!

Asking is not based upon our worth, but our poverty. Blessed are the poor in spirit. This means we see ourselves as we truly are. We come to God and ask humbly in Jesus’s name, that is because of our relationship with Him and as He would ask.

Grief causes joy when we focus on what will bring us joy not on the grief. This joy enables us to endure great hardship. Hebrews 12:2

Our goal is not to avoid pain at any cost. It isn’t to view it as the enemy. Rather, it is to see it can cause us joy.