The Great Exchange

I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing. Jeremiah 31:13b (NLT)

This passage of Scripture is part of a beautiful promise of restoration. Though God’s chosen people had turned away from Him and ended up in captivity, His love for them never wavered. In verse 3, God states, “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love, I have drawn you to myself.” We cannot fully grasp such terms as everlasting or unfailing because of our limited, human intellectual capacity. We cannot fathom how wide, how deep, and how strong God’s love is from this side of heaven. But one day, when we stand in His presence, we will behold the fullness of His marvelous love.

God’s immense love led Jesus to set aside His royalty and all its privileges to enter our world as a little child. It led Him all the way to the cross, where He took on the sin of humanity. Through His sacrifice, our sin is replaced with forgiveness, our judgment is exchanged for pardon, our mourning is transformed into joy.

One day, this will come to full completion when we finish our earthly race and enter into God’s presence. Mourning – gone. Tears – wiped away forever. Pain – not even a twinge will remain. Sin, sadness, and sorrow will be banished forever. Sorrow will be replaced with rejoicing.

This hope, this promise, is what gives us the strength to cope with our sorrow here on earth. For what we endure here and now will one day be no more. Joy will be ours forevermore.

Thought: “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” – C.S. Lewis