Lent Reflection, Day 24, March 28

Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour 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

Additional Reading: Psalm 16:1-11

Finding joy in pain is the great paradox Jesus used to prepare His disciples for the emotional trauma they were about to encounter. Three incredibly intimate years with their friend, the Son of God, would soon be only a memory. His death would initially leave them devastated. Yet just as a mother must endure tremendous pain before she experiences the joy of her new born child, so the disciples, by the necessity of Jesus’ cross, would know great sorrow before they would realize the reward of an unending relationship with the risen Lord.

Pain is the rich, fertile soil in which an intimate relationship with God is cultivated. There is a sweet side to suffering when we choose to embrace it rather than run from it. In times of deep sorrow and inconsolable grief, run, don’t walk, into the arms of your loving Heavenly Father. For only in His presence will you find the kind of joy that no one can take away.

Join me in praying the words of Teresa of Avila, “Lord, how You afflict Your lovers! But everything is small in comparison to what you You give them afterwards.”