May 29: And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. John 16:22

What are our joys which no man taketh from us? and which persecution and affliction and trouble can only deepen and widen and make more sweet? What joy is this? This joy is a foretaste of the blessings to come, an earnest of our inheritance. It is inspired by confidence in Him on whom we have believed: confidence that He is both able and willing to perfect the work which He has begun and which we desire shall be perfected in His own best way: confidence that so long as we are firmly holding to His gracious promises with the arms of our faith, He will not permit us to be separated from Him.... Our confidence is that "no one is able to pluck us out of the Father's hand," and that "the Father himself loveth" us, and will not turn us away so long as we desire to abide obediently in His love. R2232