John 16:20-22 (ESV Strong's)
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
Joy vs Happiness
The world often confuses joy and happiness. They are not the same. They want joy but settle for happiness. There is now a movement across the country to distinguish the difference and to conjure up joy in one’s life. The problem with that thought is that God’s Word states that “joy” is the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-24). Therefore the world cannot create joy for themselves. Joy is God produced. Notice what Jesus says in the above passage. Here are som lessons from His words;
1. The world can have joy and rejoice, but it is based upon circumstances and only temporary.
2. Believers can have sorrow and will experience sorrow when they see the events of time through their own eyes.
3. Believers can have joy, even though there is no change of circumstances. In fact the same event that caused the sorrow (the death on the cross) would produce the joy (the death on the cross that led to the resurrection)
4. The joy they would receive would be permanent (Acts 2; Galatians 5:22)
We need to know that as believers we have something special from God, even in the midst of hardships. God wants to produce joy in our hearts via our faith and trust in Him. The minute we attempt to pursue joy in our own strength we end up with only temporary happiness based upon circumstances.
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