Daily Reflections ...

Have you ever had a moment like the disciples did in today’s Gospel “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about”?  (John 16:18).  How refreshing to see the humanity of the disciples. Even those who walked most closely with Jesus, who knew him well and had every reason to trust him experienced moments of confusion and uncertainty.  And here, again, is our call to trust.

St Paul’s letter to the Hebrews encourages us that ‘faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’ (Hebrews 11: 1), and yet our humanity wrestles with this. We want to know, we prefer to be in control of the outcome. And so again, we are called to trust Jesus, even when what we feel he is saying seems to make no sense and we can’t clearly see exactly where he is leading or what he is asking of us.

Hear the reassurance of Jesus in your uncertainty today: ‘but your sorrow will turn to joy’. We may not always understand what’s happening right now, but we can know that this God who loves us and who knows us can see ahead and promises to look after us. And we’re in good company with the disciples – even they didn’t always understand.

by Emma Plant