John 16

John 16... This chapter can make things a bit uncomfortable. Yesterday it was said that I might be hated by those who cannot fathom Christ and today it is being said that I may also be expelled from places and killed in verse 2. Well that doesn't seem very encouraging! I thought He was pursuing me because I had been used and abused enough, and because He wanted me to be fed, have good pastures and lie in pleasant places, and lie down with peace while He looks over me (see Ezekiel 34:13-16). The latter does not sound like the former.

But wait, in today's verses Jesus also says the Spirit of truth is coming (He has come), God will help us understand the future, and God will provide what we ask for (provided we are asking as the Spirit of Christ leads) (see verses 7, 13, and 23.)

AND we will receive abundant joy, but we will also have trials and sorrows (see verse 24 and 33.)

Back and forth, back and forth. Which is it? What is this to mean? The disciples (those walking with Christ for years) also had a hard time getting it. I went back to my blog post, Bridges of Grace, where I shared just one testimony of how God shared the future. I felt like it was killing me to do what God needed me to do, but the peace and gratefulness that came, as a result, could not be replaced by anything earthly.

The devotion this morning reminds me of a time when a friend of mine who is a die- hard, vocal, anti-believer of God and anything biblical, asked if I REALLY believed all this nonsense. I looked them straight in the eye and said, "Yes, I would die for Who I know, if it came to it". There was a long pause and a simple reply, "I wish I had something I believed in that much."

The hope that lies within us causes us to have abundant joy in the face of trials, sorrows, and hatred – we, in fact, can rest, be fed, and know we are being looked after by the Good Shepherd, regardless of our circumstances and regardless of how we may be treated. We are not left alone. He has already overcome the world.