Hope of joy

John 16: 20 - 23

I am glad Jesus used childbirth as a metaphor for the temporary grief he told his disciples they would go through. Childbirth, for those who have gone through it (and the husbands who have looked on helplessly), is usually a time of unbearable pain. These days of course with many advances in pain relief, it is no longer so painful. And there are women who ask for an elective surgical delivery because they are afraid of the pain! I was perhaps fortunate that my times of childbirth lasted just a few hours. And I got through even without the analgesia. But there certainly were moments of great pain.

The disciples were given a forward look to their pain and confusion when Jesus entered his passion, leading to his death. What he said was fulfilled when he appeared to them after his resurrection and they were filled with joy and amazement. But his words also have meaning for us today. Many of the situations around us and in our own lives may be described as being "in pain and distress". Paul uses the same metaphor in Romans 8: the whole creation is groaning as in the pains of childbirth. It is still happening to believers today, as he says, "right up to the present time". Our lives and our world are no different 2000 years after. Surely it would be easier for us to bear our burdens and to encourage others in their troubles, if we believed and hoped that there is a purpose and end to it all. How long and in what way, we are not always given the privilege to know.

Paul says: Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have we wait for it patiently. Hope is the important key. It is something that helps us hold on as we wait. The waiting may be short, as in my own experiences of childbirth. But it can also be much longer and more complicated. But as the psalmist declared, "weeping may continue through the might but joy comes in the morning".