Scripture: John 16:17-22

Some of Jesus’ disciples said to each other, “What does he mean: ‘Soon you won’t see me, and soon after that you will see me’ and ‘Because I’m going to the Father’? What does he mean by ‘soon’? We don’t understand what he’s talking about.”

Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, so he said, “Are you trying to find out from each other what I meant when I said, ‘Soon you won’t see me, and soon after that you will see me’? I assure you that you will cry and lament, and the world will be happy. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman gives birth, she has pain because her time has come. But when the child is born, she no longer remembers her distress because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. In the same way, you have sorrow now; but I will see you again, and you will be overjoyed. No one takes away your joy.

Consider:

I’d like to take issue with my friend Jesus here in this situation because he’s doing a little bit of what some women call “Mansplaining”. He makes an outrageous claim about childbirth - namely that women forget the pain of childbirth because after the child is born she now has a baby which helps her to forget the pain. Which just goes to show you Jesus never sat in a room full of mothers while the children are in another room. Those mothers are swapping birthing stories - including the number of hours of labor - with the same gusto as someone who climbed the cliff of Normandy. They don’t forget the pain - it’s just that the baby is worth it. (And it’s also true that the adrenaline and endorphins of actual childbirth do make you feel less pain right after the birth, but talk to a mother about the days and weeks after and I promise you’ll hear a different story!)

There is deeper truth embedded in that reflection - which, of course there is because it’s Jesus. And that truth is this - we can do hard things. We can climb mountains and birth babies and run into burning buildings. Human beings are remarkably robust and courageous. We are so strong and so capable and so able to endure pain and suffering.

But sometimes we forget that endurance and resilience we’ve developed in the past because, for whatever reason, the hard things we’ve done before seem much smaller in the rear view mirror. I actually once had a veteran tell me that during World War II he survived on grass - literally eating grass from actual fields where they were walking - in the same tone he’d told me about buying shoes that morning. We forget how amazing and strong we are and all the obstacles we’ve overcome to reach this point.

You can do wonderful things. In fact, God is already doing something wonderful in you. Sometimes we just forget how strong and courageous we can truly be.

Respond:

Sit down for a minute and make a list of all the hard things you’ve overcome in the last month. Maybe make it two. Or maybe it’s the last year or in your whole life, whatever time period makes sense to you.

Then, next to each item, make a note of one act of bravery or courage you did in the course of that hard thing. Did you keep your mouth shut when your boss was being a jerk? Write it down!

Then take a minute and notice how many amazing thing you were able to do. Instead of diminishing it or making it smaller than it was, give yourself a moment of credit to remember how awesome you are - and how hard that obstacle was to overcome! Celebrate your success.

Pray:

God, I know you are amazing and awesome, but sometimes I doubt that I am able to do the hard things or can overcome the difficult spots in the road ahead. Help me to remember all the times and places you’ve helped me be courageous in the past, not as wounds but as badges which celebrate how far I’ve come on this journey. Remind me of my strength. Amen.

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