Sorrow to Joy
The 5th Sunday in the Easter Season
Tears of joy will stream down their faces,
and I will lead them home with great care.
They will walk beside quiet streams
and on smooth paths where they will not stumble.
For I am Israel’s father... ~ Jeremiah 31:9a (NLT)
So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy. ~ John 16:22 (NLT)
Gracious Father, thank you for leading us through and out of our sad times. Sometimes it is hard to believe that the sorrow will ever end. It is very overwhelming. I need to trust you more during those times. Fill me with hope so that I am not depressed or discouraged. I want to radiate hope in both the good times and bad times. And because of your kind grace that is a real hope. Amen.
*ABOUT THE
DAILY TEXTS
The Daily Texts have been published by the Moravian Church since 1731. In 2015 I started posting these Bible verses for my spiritual formation students at Pacific Islands University. In the process of responding to the verses, I found the rhythm of looking for a common thread and writing a prayer based on that key idea to be helpful for my own soul. The prayers are more or less modeled on the TRIP method, which is what I ask my students to do in their journaling. ~ Brad Boydston
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase -- a freestyle biblical adaptation -- somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
