We know pain, but we will know healing and joy.

Photo by Maureen Kennedy Macel

"I tell you, you will weep and mourn... you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her time has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." John 16:20-22

Jesus knew the suffering we experience in life. He came to share in our suffering so that one day we may be healed, restored and forever have joy. In Jesus' life, he endured immense suffering, and that's just the stuff we know about. There's a lot more about his life that wouldn't have been recorded in Scripture, such as the death of family members and friends, friends who had miscarriages, friends who lost their jobs, (he probably lost a job or two!), aches and pains, injuries, etc.

Jesus:

• was born into poverty.
• was trained in a trade and expected to work to support his family.
• lost his foster father Joseph.
• was rejected by his hometown as he began his ministry.
• mourned the murder of his cousin.
• was deeply moved by sadness and compassion for the suffering of others.
• was rejected by people in powerful positions who made life difficult for him by always trying to trap him, harm him, and embarrass him.
• was betrayed by a friend.
• was abandoned by his friends.
• was unjustly accused and condemned.
• was tortured.
• was taunted by a crowd in his hours of deepest physical and emotional pain.
• was publicly humiliated.
• was killed. 

Jesus is very aware of and attentive to suffering, and he always moves to love the person who is in pain. In his time, whether people were ill, or excluded from society, or lost in the darkness of sin, Jesus healed them and invited them to a whole new way of life.

He gives us the same kind of healing today, and invites us to allow him to change our lives. Our healing begins now and is made complete when we join God in the life to come. Only then will we be fully healed and restored, and then we will have complete joy!

One day, the anguish of our lives will be forgotten and all we will feel is unending, total, all-consuming joy. Jesus promises us, "Behold, I make all things new." Revelation 21:5