A Little While

John 16:16-20 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”

In Pastor Kyle’s Easter message, he told us they we tend to think of life with an “endless summer” attitude that seems to go forever. In reality, life is here and then it is gone. We try to make our little while last longer, but it comes and it goes. We are only here for a little while in terms of time, but there will never be a time that a Believer will not be out of the presence of their Heavenly Father. God is with us in our pain and reminds us that its only for a little while. There are those in this world that would like nothing better than to eradicate Christianity from the face of the earth. But fear not, the Lord is in control.

 

Psalm 39:4 “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.”

 

Pastor Kyle gave us four Easter truths to be fully alive while we are here. (1) Our sorrows will be turned to joy … in a little while. Our sure hope in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gives us confidence that our sorrows in this life will be transformed, not replaced, in the comfort and contentment of Jesus. (2) God wants to answer our prayers in His name. Pray for the things that God wants in our life. Have you stopped believing in answered prayer and believe the lie of Satan that God wants to give us the bear minimum?  (3) God wants our joy to be full and right now. It is not a “ton or none” situation, because Jesus does not bring the minimum, but the full measure of joy. Joy is a delight of the mind, from the consideration of the present or assured approaching possession of a good leading us to rejoice; to be glad; to exult. The Lord will not take our sorrow away, but we will find the Lord in the sorrow and turn it to love and fill us with joy. (4) Christ has overcome the world. In John 16:33 Jesus tells us, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Whatever you are going through, whatever we experience in life for a little while, is not comparable to the eternal life in Heaven that goes on forever. The question is: “Are we living this ‘a little while' life as if eternity doesn’t matter?”

 

Revelation 21:4 “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

 John 14:1-4 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”  We are eternal beings. We are alive eternally forever. Is His kingdom first in our lives? Is Jesus the Lord of our life? We need  to redirect our time here towards Christ. He died on the cross for our sins (in our place) and rose again, defeating death that we may live with Him in Heaven for eternity; never separated. The tomb is empty. Now, go and live like it.

In Christ, Brian