Truly, truly, I say to you,
you will weep and lament,
but the world will rejoice.
You will be sorrowful,
but your sorrow will turn into joy.
~ John 16:20
In speaking those comforting words to his disciples, our Savior made use of this memorable sentence, “Your sorrow will turn into joy.” As I read the whole passage, I pondered over those words, and tried to find out their meaning. Perhaps you think, as you glance at them, that they mean that the man who was sorrowful would be joyous. That is part of their meaning, but they mean a great deal more than that. They mean, literally and actually, your sorrow itself shall be turned into joy—not the sorrow to be taken away, and joy to be put in its place, but the very sorrow, which now grieves you, shall be turned into joy. This is a very wonderful transformation; and only the God who works great marvels could possibly accomplish it—could, somehow, not only take away the bitterness, and give sweetness in its place, but turn the bitterness itself into sweetness.
Our sorrows, dear friends, are turned into joy in many different ways. For instance, there are some of us, who are such naughty children, that we never seem to come close to our Heavenly Father unless some sorrow drives us to him. We ought to be more with him in days of sunshine, if it were possible, than in days of storm, but it is not always so. It is said that there are some dogs which, the more you whip them, the more they love you. I should not like to try that plan even on a dog; but I fear that some of us are very like dogs, in that respect, if the saying is true. When we have a great trouble, we seem to wake up and say, “Lord, we forgot you when all was going smoothly; we wandered from you then, but now we must come back to you.” And there is a special softness of heart, and mellowness of spirit, which we often get through being tried and troubled; and when that is the case, you and I have great cause to rejoice in our sorrows, if they draw us nearer to God, and bring us to a clear and more careful walk with him. If they draw us away from worldliness, and self-sufficiency, and self-complacency, our sorrows, if we are wise men and women, will be immediately turned into joy.
Again, there is no doubt that, to many, sorrow is a great means of opening the eyes to the preciousness of the promises of God. I believe that there are some of God’s promises, of which we shall never get to know the meaning until we have been placed in the circumstances for which those promises were written. Certain objects in nature can only be seen from certain points of view, and there are precious things in the covenant of grace that can only be perceived from the deep places of trouble. Well, then, if your trouble brings you into a position where you can understand more of the lovingkindness of the Lord, you may be very thankful that you were ever put there, and may thus find your sorrow turned into joy.
Again, sorrow often gives us further fellowship with Christ. There are times when we can say, “Now, Lord, we can sympathize with you better than we ever did before, for we have felt somewhat as you did in your agony here below.” We have sometimes felt as though that prophecy had been fulfilled to us, “You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with” (Matthew 20:23 NKJV). For instance, if friends forsake you, you can say, “Now, Lord, I know a little better what your feeling was when Judas so basely betrayed you.” You can-not so fully comprehend the griefs of Christ unless, in your humble measure, you have to pass through a somewhat similar experience; but when you perceive that you can sympathize more with Christ because of your own sorrow, then, for certain, your sorrow is turned into joy.
Sorrow also gives us fellowship with our Lord in another way—when we feel as if Christ and we had become partners in one trouble. Here is a cross, and I have to carry one end of it; but I look round, and see that my Lord is carrying the heavier end of it, and then it is a very sweet sorrow to carry the cross in partnership with Christ. Rutherford says, in one of his letters, “When Christ’s dear child is carrying a burden, it often happens that Christ says, ‘Halves, my love,’ and carries the half of it for him.” It is indeed sweet when it is so. Our motto must be, “Anywhere with Jesus, nowhere without Jesus.” Where Jesus is, our sorrow is turned into joy.
I must not fail to remind you that there is a time coming when “the sorrows of death” (Psalm 18:4 KJV) will get hold upon us, and I want you, brethren and sisters, to understand that, when the Lord shall come, we shall not escape the sorrow of dying, but it will be turned into joy. Some of you may be dreading death, for there is still a measure of unbelief remaining in you; but, in your case also, death, will be swallowed up in victory. Some of you are very poor, and others of you are very much tried and troubled in many ways; but, my dear friends, when you and I get up there—and we shall do so before long—I think you will have the best of it. If there is any truth in that line—“The deeper their sorrows, the louder they’ll sing”—the more sorrows you have had, the more will you sing. Nobody enjoys wealth like a man who has been poor. Nobody enjoys health like a man who has been sick. I think that the pleasantest days I ever spend are them that follow a long illness, when I at last begin to creep out of doors, and drink in the sweet fresh air again. And, oh, what joy it will be to you, poor ones, and you, sick ones, and you, tried ones, to get into the land where all is plentiful, where all is peaceful, where all is glad-some, where all is holy!
Excerpted from Your Only Comfort: Devotions for Hope in Suffering by Charles H. Spurgeon © 2025 by Geoffrey Chang, editor. Used with permission of New Growth Press. May not be reproduced without prior written permission.
Your Only Comfort
Beloved nineteenth-century pastor Charles Spurgeon wrestled with dark depression, debilitating illness, personal sorrow, and ministerial trials. Suffering was not just a component of his life—it was the dark cloud that hung over all his labors and accomplishments. Your Only Comfort draws from Spurgeon’s best teachings on suffering to bring that comfort to a new generation.
Compiled by Geoffrey Chang, curator of the Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
