It can be a comfort to know that other people deal with sorrow and death. We do well to recognize that there will be trouble in this life just as Jesus warned the disciples (John 16:33). But there is a danger of either focusing on the difficulties in life or ignoring them.
Jesus did not do either one of these things. He acknowledged the troubles would come, but he focused on the eternal joy. In his prayer he says to the Father, "... These things I speak in the world that my joy may be fulfilled in them" (John 17:13; 16:24; 15:11). How does one have joy while struggling?
We do what Jesus did. We face what we need to, relying on God, and we look forward to the end results - what God is accomplishing in and through us (Hebrews 12:1-2).
