Please read John 16:21-22
On February 19, 1812,
23-year old Adoniram Judson, along with his wife of 7 days boarded a ship to go
to India. However, when he reached India, he was refused entry into the country
so he landed in Rangoon, Burma (present day Myanmar). Soon Judson realized he
and Ann were the only Christians in Burma. For seven years he toiled to bring
people to Jesus and finally on June 27, 1819, Judson baptized the first Burmese
believer. People came to Christ- but slowly – yet Judson persisted.
He and lost their first–born
Roger at 8-months of age. He also lost two wives to disease, as Cholera was
common in Burma at that time. He was thrown in jail, accused of being an
American spy. Yet hardships never
deterred Judson from his work for God.
When Judson began his
mission in Burma his goals were very modest – the writing of a Burmese Bible
and a church of 100 converts. However, God blessed his servant mightily. When
Judson died, at age 61, he established over 100 churches with over 8000 Burmese
Christians. He not only accomplished his goal of writing (translating) a Bible
in Burmese, he also finished the first-ever Burmese to English Dictionary. His work is monumental – Burma has the third
largest number of Baptists behind, USA and India.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in chapter
16 and surrounding chapters, Jesus is getting his disciples ( and us) ready for
trials and tribulations – so when they come they
are not blindsided. In John 16:10 Jesus
tells his disciples “ I go to the Father, and
you will see me no longer.” They
are perplexed with this ‘going to the Father’ phrase. They don’t understand. (You and I have an advantage over them
because we know what happened next.) They are trying to process and understand the
words of his impending death. Comforting and preparing them for the trials, in
these chapters, Jesus alternates between the good news and bad news. But here
in these two verses, he talks about both – the trials and sorrow to come and in
the end, Joy. Judson knew trials but he
knew Joy was to come.
Jesus also
teaches us something that we can’t comprehend with our feeble minds – the Joy
that we receive from Jesus will make us forget our sorrows (V. 21). People often ask me whether they will have
relationships and if remembrances will continue with in heaven. In heaven, we
will not remember our trials both in and outside the church. When we are around
Jesus and God no one else matters, nothing else comes to mind. This Joy is
forever – in V. 22 Jesus says “no one will take your joy from you.”
Dear Jesus, equip me to trust in your
mercy, grace and the future everlasting joy you have for me. Amen.
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