“Prepared for the worst”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Saturday, April 30, 2022

John 16:16-33 (Forward, p. 91) CEV p. 1123

Here we see something of the infinite kindness of our Lord. As we see in His descriptions, His explanations, of what it means to be a disciple, a follower of His, here He doesn’t sugar-coat things either. He tells them that He will be ‘out of circulation’ for a while, that they won’t be able to see them for a bit. Indeed, using the image of childbirth, He says that this time of separation will be intensely painful and distressing. But, again, like childbirth, the eventual outcome will be one of great joy and gladness. In the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, He is recorded as coming out clearly and plainly to describe what will happen to Him, both in His arrest, trial and execution but also in His resurrection, but here, in John’s gospel, He doesn’t put it in so many words. But, of course, John’s audience, coming many years after the events of that Easter weekend, would have been well aware of all of that.

In the Hebrew Scriptures we find hints that God is planning to tell His people of things yet to come, but here in the New Testament God is much more explicit. Indeed, not only do the gospels relate much of this, but so do the epistles and the Book of Revelation. I think that God does this to reassure us that He knows the future and that He is in control. He wants us to know that, even ‘when all hell is breaking loose’, He is still there and still with us to help us through it, and indeed, will work out all things for good. It may not come right away, or when we would like it, but trust Him, it will come. So, in the meantime, we are to hold on and trust Him. Amen.

Forward notes: “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete” (verse 24).

“I used to pray by giving God a laundry list of my wants and desires. Often, I ended these prayer requests with, ‘In Jesus’s name. Amen.’ Most of my requests seemed to go unanswered. I do think God was listening, rather deeply, actually. God heard what I wanted, in my name. But God also knew me better than I knew myself. So instead of offering what I wanted, God offered what I needed, even when I could not recognize it at the moment.

“Over time God has taught me to listen to myself. I know myself a little better each day. I still don’t know me as well as God does, but I’ve progressed enough to pray a little differently. These days, I find I pray less for what I want and more for what I need, and I’m also able to recognize and give thanks for how God is offering that to me. My joy is far from complete, but I am more consistently joyful as a result of shifting how I think about prayer.”

MOVING FORWARD: “Are the words, ‘In Jesus’s name,’ mere lip service? How can you change that?”