Friday 27 May 2022

May 27: John 16:20-23

Key Verse: John 16:21
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.

Devotion:
I always try not to laugh when I read this verse because I really don’t think men know what it feels like to go through child birth. Why would a man write such an example when he does not know what it really feels like! I think maybe something was lost in translation, or it is an imagined feeling because the writer did not know what else to write!

These are the words which ring through my head when people say that being a Christian is going to be good and fun and a life without pain! The more we get to see how much opposition we get being a Christian in this world, the more we will begin to understand what it takes to stand up against the crowd. We will face a barrage of things which will make us hurt, fell uncomfortable and even want to give up – but we need to continue on forwards just like Jesus did.

We will never know the true pain and anguish Jesus went through because we do not have to carry the weight of the whole world on our shoulders like Jesus did. We will face people who want to shout at us. We will face people who will say we are weak and feeble. We will face people who treat us like we belong in a gutter… But if we can stand up and continue to say we are Christians and continue to show people we will not give up on Christ, then, just maybe they will take notice!

These harsh times are not going to last forever – they may feel like they are never-ending at times, but they will end when it is time for us to join Christ in heaven. We will not have to face any more of this grief when we get to heaven and the rewards will far out-weigh the punishment we went through… it just won’t seem like it at the time!

Points to Ponder:
How easy do you give up against hardships?

Will you make a stand for Christ?