our daily bread

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Dexu Xia

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Sep 5, 2017, 11:40:15 PM9/5/17

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From Grief to Joy

You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. John 16:20

Kelly’s pregnancy brought complications, and doctors were concerned. During her long labor, they decided to whisk her away for a Cesarean section. But despite the ordeal, Kelly quickly forgot her pain when she held her newborn son. Joy had replaced anguish.

Scripture affirms this truth: “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world” (John 16:21). Jesus used this illustration with His disciples to emphasize that though they would grieve because He would be leaving soon, that grief would turn to joy when they saw Him again (vv. 20–22).

Dear Lord, we long to be in Your presence, especially when we face pain and sorrow.

Jesus was referring to His death and resurrection—and what followed. After His resurrection, to the disciples’ joy, Jesus spent another forty days walking with and teaching them before ascending and leaving them once again (Acts 1:3). Yet Jesus did not leave them grief-stricken. The Holy Spirit would fill them with joy (John 16:7–15; Acts 13:52).

Though we have never seen Jesus face to face, as believers we have the assurance that one day we will. In that day, the anguish we face in this earth will be forgotten. But until then, the Lord has not left us without joy—He has given us His Spirit (Rom. 15:13; 1 Peter 1:8–9).

Dear Lord, we long to be in Your presence, especially when we face pain and sorrow. Yet You have not left us on our own. The Holy Spirit lives within us—and gives us joy.

One day our sorrow will be turned to joy!

忧愁变为喜乐

你们将要忧愁，然而你们的忧愁要变为喜乐。-约翰福音16章20节

凯莉在怀孕期间出现并发症，令医生有点担心。由于她的分娩过程过于漫长，最后医生决定为她进行剖腹生产。尽管历经许多磨难，但当凯莉抱着刚出生的儿子时，却马上就忘记她的疼痛。喜悦取代了痛苦。

圣经也提及：“妇人生产的时候就忧愁，因为她的时候到了；既生了孩子，就不再记念那苦楚，因为欢喜世上生了一个人”（约翰福音16章21节）。耶稣以妇人生产为例让门徒明白，虽然他们会因耶稣即将离开而忧愁，但当门徒再见到祂时，他们的忧愁会变为喜乐（20-22节）。

在此，耶稣是指祂的受死、复活，以及将来会发生的事。让门徒喜乐的是，耶稣复活之后，祂花了四十天的时间，与他们同行并教导他们（使徒行传1章3节）。当耶稣升天再次离开门徒时，并没有让他们忧愁无助，因圣灵将使他们满心喜乐（约翰福音16章7-15节；使徒行传13章52节）。

我们虽从未亲眼看见耶稣，但我们这些信徒可以确信有一天将要与主面对面。到那日，我们会忘记世上的苦难。现在上帝并没有让我们忧愁，我们可以满心喜乐，是因祂已将圣灵赐给我们（罗马书15章13节；彼得前书1章8-9节）。

亲爱的主，当我们面对痛苦和悲伤的时候，
我们极其渴望祢的同在。感谢祢没有丢下我们，
还让圣灵住在我们里面，使我们充满喜乐。