In a While

A marketing guru explained the sure-fire way to produce irate customers: make them wait and keep them in the dark. Having a service personnel request the customer to wait indefinitely for his burger will surely send the latter demanding for the store manager. On the other hand, informing the customer that it will take ten minutes to deliver the order will elicit a tolerant response, or a change of order at the very least. Waiting and uncertainty can also be a real killer combo in the Christian life. But when Jesus left his disciples to fulfill His calling on the cross, He made sure not to leave them in the dark. He gave them a powerful parting message in John 16:16-33: “For a little while…” From the first century disciples, this powerful message continues to minister to us who are in the twenty-first century church.

“You will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices…” As if it wasn’t enough that their mentor-friend was leaving them, Jesus had to tell His disciples that they will weep and mourn when He goes away—while the rest of the world rejoices! Jesus did not convey a probability. Jesus talked about weeping and mourning as certainty. “In this world you WILL have trouble,” Jesus said in verse 33. You can’t get any more certain than that. Why such crushing news? Jesus knew He was leaving His disciples to a hostile world. In His love for them (and to us), He left such a parting message to prepare them for the challenges of the Christian life ahead. Jesus also wanted them to humble themselves and depend solely on Him. Above all, Jesus wanted His disciples to have a longing for His eternal kingdom. He wanted them to have an eternal perspective. As we experience our share of weeping and mourning today, Jesus calls us to do just the same. Thank God Jesus didn’t conclude with the certainty of grief! Jesus went on to say that our grief will turn to joy, and this joy will be given us after just a little while. So what must we do during this “little while” that we call life?

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace…” Yes, in this “little while”, we will experience mourning and weeping. But we take comfort in the truth that it’s just for a little while. Moreover, Jesus said that we may have genuine peace even as we experience challenges and problems in this life. This peace is made available in Jesus Christ Himself. All we need to do is ask. Jesus invites us in verse 24: “Until now you have not asked for anything in My Name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” Jesus desires for us to have peace. We are assured that we have a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering Father in heaven who will give this peace when we ask Him for it. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” But here’s the best part…

“…Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy…” Jesus likened our grief in this life to the ordeal and joy of giving birth. Giving birth to a child is real painful. Ask any mother. But when the baby is born, the mother forgets the agony of the labor. The joy of bringing the child into the world and being able to hold him replaces that anguish. It is the same with seeing Jesus. Life’s grief is real now, but when we get to heaven and see Jesus, we will be overwhelmed with great joy that the grief we went through will surely be overlooked. The question is: How much do we long for these? Longing for heaven is longing for a place described in Revelation as decked in gold and valuable stones, where there is no death, no crying and no pain. Longing for heaven is also longing for a face—that of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom we owe the privilege of entering it.
Just how much do we long to see Jesus, really? Just how much do we long to get to heaven? Is this “little while” we call life still too long for us, as we look forward to going home?Or have we nibbled too long at the table of the world that we already lost the appetite for heaven? Life can be summed up in four bottles: a child’s feeding bottle, a soda bottle, a Budweiser, and a dextrose bag. It is that short. We can spend it being overwhelmed by problems and pains. Or we can choose to live this “little while” with the peace Jesus offers, spending every moment in worthwhile endeavor as we look forward to seeing His face “after a little while”. This “little while” may be a mere ten years from now; but then again, it can also be tomorrow.