An Unbreakable Vow
John 16:22 “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.”
“Is everything sad going to come untrue?” asks Sam to Gandalf in J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Return of the King. Gandalf answers through deep, heartfelt laughter, and I love the way Tolkien describes Sam’s impression afterward. As he listened, the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count. Friend, can you relate to that sentiment right now? Has this season been marked by sickness or a lost job or unfulfilled expectations? Has your sorrow lasted for ‘days and days without count’? Take courage from our Lord’s unbreakable vow here in John 16. Your hours of suffering are numbered. Your restlessness is temporary. Your mourning is momentary.
But your joy in Christ is eternal!
Extra Refreshment
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4