(It’s a great honour to share this special entry. These are words that were shared on a prayer meeting held recently. The inspired writer and speaker – Cynthia Bourne – loves Jesus and shares that love with saints in a church based in Manchester. I trust your weeping will be put into heavenly cperspective as you consider these words of encouragement. – For His Name’s Sake, Shalom, C. L. J. Dryden)
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:10-12
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Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into Joy.
John 16:20
These scriptures remind us that God has not called us to a country walk or a bed of roses. He has called us to a journey that requires us to exercise faith and trust.
In John 16 Jesus is having a conversation with the disciples. In the earlier verses He reminds the disciples that He was going to suffer and that that time was very near, but He also said that the suffering was necessary to bring victory. He’s indicating that the reward far outweighs the anguish to come.
By reminding his disciples and followers of the hatred of the world and the pain, anxiety and loss they were about to experience, Jesus is making it clear that pain must come. He didn’t try to pretty things up, it would have made no sense to tell them ‘its not really that bad,’ it was. Rather He teaches them to look beyond the suffering, knowing that there is a greater purpose. In this instance it was going to be the arrest and murder of their teacher, their leader, the one that held them together. But, but, but to be followed by the glorious resurrection.
So, this scripture speaks to us today and gives us reason in the midst of our weeping and our struggles, to know that a Christian life is a glad life, a joyous life.
Why? The promise of joy in these verses is a transformed sorrow. In other words, your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Not just that one emotion is replaced by the other. The pain causes the joy to be. The pain of giving birth causes the joy of the baby. The death on the cross caused the resurrection from the grave and the victory over the power of Satan. The difficulties you have gone through causes the shout of praise in the victory we win.
So yes, we are blessed (comforted by inner peace and God’s love) when we are persecuted because of righteousness, because of being in right standing with God)
And yes, we are blessed (courageous, spiritually alive with joy in God’s goodness) when we experience insults and are accused falsely and experience all kinds of evil because of our love for Christ.
Why? Because this suffering transfers us to residency in the Kingdom of God now and when the earth is made new.
Let us endure the struggle, the loss, the pain. Let us endure the sniggers, the ridicule, looking down on. Its giving birth to something far greater than anyone could ever imagine.
Blessings, Sister Cynthia Bourne
Weeping may endure for a night
Joy comes in the morning
Weeping may endure for a night
Joy comes in the morning
Hallelujah for the joy
Hallelujah for the joy
Hallelujah for the joy Joy comes in the morning
Song lyrics for the situation – Weeping May Endure For A Night
Life With CD 
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