The scriptures in the old testament

That’s kind of like the one-two punch that knocks the devil out. That’s what it says in this verse, literally. If I rewrote it and did my own translation, I’d say: Calm down and cheer up. God’s in control. But what are these things Jesus was telling them about? He said: I’ve told you these things, so that you might be in peace. If you go back and read most of verse 16, this is where Jesus begins to tell them that it’s time for him to go and if we start looking at verse 21, he gives them an example.

Let’s just look at verse 19: Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said, are you wondering and inquiring among yourselves what I meant when I said, in a little while you will no longer see me, and again after a short while you will see me? vs. 20: I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that you shall weep and grieve, but the world will rejoice, and you will be sorrowful but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

We know the scriptures in the old testament: Weeping endures for a night but joy comes in the morning. One of the things that enables us to have peace and joy when we’re going through something is to realize that that’s exactly what’s happening: We are going through, and anytime you’re going through, you’re going to come out on the other side. That really is good news for a Christian because I can tell you a lot of people in the world never get through. They get stuck in the midst of their problems and they end up destroying them. They destroy their marriages, they destroy their attitudes, they destroy their bodies. We’re all going to go through things but not everybody comes out on the other side a better person. Hallelujah! When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went through the fiery furnace, they came out better people. They had a stronger witness, a stronger testimony. The people around them decided to believe in their God and they got promoted.