John 16.20 

 

In this verse, Jesus says to the apostles: "Your sorrow will turn into joy".
And it did.
The sorrow of Good Friday turned into the joy of Easter Sunday.
The same thing often happens  for us in this life.
"Failure is the mother of success".   "No pain, no gain". 
Many professional  people succeed only after a series of failures.
Many people  develop new talents like art and writing only after an accident.
Many people  find the Lord only after they go through a crisis. Such people say the crisis was worth it because otherwise they might have gone on ignoring the Lord.

But the place with the biggest "Cheer Up!" sign is on the second floor:  Heaven. 
At the gate of Heaven there is a huge neon sign:  "Your sorrow will turn into joy".
This sign is especially for:
- people who have gone through this life with a physical or mental handicap, and  are about to go through eternity in full health.
- parents who have gone through this life looking after a handicapped child who is about to go through eternity in full health.
- people who have spent long years grieving the death of a loved family member, who are about to re-united for all eternity.

Dear Jesus, I know that in Heaven you will "wipe away every tear" and completely replace sorrow with joy. May this knowledge give me courage 
to face each day. May this knowledge help me see joy through my tears.