So it is with you: you are sad now, but I shall see you again, and your hearts will be full of joy, and that joy no one shall take from you. – John 16:22 (New Jerusalem Bible)
Jesus tells us: You will have troubles. There will be sadness and hardship and hurt. But do not let these things take over your life. Don’t let them be all that you think about. Learn to live above your troubles. How is that possible? Through Me. When you spend a few minutes, every day just sitting quietly with Me, I can give you the power to face your problems with a smile. You will begin to see your struggles as I see them. I will help you decide what is important and what is not. And I will fill your mind with Peace and Joy that no one can take away from you.
Jesus Concludes: I have already overcome the troubles of this world, and I will help you do the same with your problems.
John 16:22; John 16:33; Psalms 42:5
Footnotes John 16:22 The days ahead can be dark and frightening, especially for Jesus’ followers. Yet the outcome will be powerful and world changing. A crucial aspect of that encouragement is that pain and suffering are temporary, as compared to the blessings offered by life in Christ, in time and in eternity. In the spiritual sense, we are always under His omniscient eye of love, grace, and mercy.
The blessings of grace, such as redemption, pardon, righteousness, and atonement do ever remain as the foundation of solid joy. No man or devil could take it away, not by all the reproaches or persecutions.
Passage John 16:33 I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me. In the world you will have hardship, but be courageous: I have conquered the world.
Footnotes John 16:33 The world in which we live is hostile to the believer but inner peace is ensured if we live in communion with Christ and the Father by following Christ’s Word and life.
Passage Psalms 42:5 Why be so downcast, why all these sighs? Hope in God! I will praise him still, my Savior, my God.
Footnotes Psalms 42:5 We are exiles here below, as long as we do not see the face of God. Our hope in the Lord only can free us from sadness and discouragement. Bad as the times are, hopeless as in the sight of man our condition may be, yet there is no room for despair. All things are possible to God. We have a promise of restoration and He is as good as He is powerful. He is our almighty father.
THE WORLD…we see history
Detachment, Separating from Family Issues
We may be like our family. We may love our family. But we are separate human beings with individual rights and issues.
We do not have to feel guilty about finding happiness and a life that works. And we do not have to take on our family’s issues as our own to be loyal and to show we love them.
Often when we begin taking care of ourselves, family members will reverberate with overt and covert attempts to pull us back into old systems and roles. We do not have to go. Their attempts to pull us back are their issues. Taking care of ourselves and becoming healthy and happy does not mean we do not love them. It means we’re addressing our issues.
We do not have to judge them because they have issues, nor do we have to allow them to do anything they would like to us, just because they are family.
We are free now, free to take care of ourselves with family members. Our freedom starts when we stop denying their issues, and politely, but assertively, hand their stuff back to them, where it belongs, and deal with our own issues.
The WORD…we see Jesus, His Story!
We can draw a healthy line, a healthy boundary, between ourselves and our nuclear family. We can separate ourselves from their issues.
- Some of us may have family members who are addicted to alcohol and other drugs and who are not in recovery from their addiction.
- Some of us may have family members who have unresolved codependency issues. Family members may be addicted to misery, pain, suffering, martyrdom, and victimization.
- We may have family members who have unresolved abuse issues, or unresolved family of origin issues.
- We may have family members who are addicted to work, eating, or sex. Our family may be completely enmeshed, or we may have a disconnected family in which the members have little contact.
Daily Meditation.
Today, I will separate myself from family members. I am a separate human being, even though I belong to a unit called a family. I have a right to my own issues, and growth, my family members have a right to their issues and a right to choose where and when they will deal with these issues. I can learn to detach in love from my family members and their issues. I am willing to work through all necessary feelings in order to accomplish this.