"I have told you these things, so that in me
you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world.”
John 16:33
Life is hard.
Today in the world we will read of people
dying from malnourishment, war, disease, false imprisonment, anger, hatred,
bigotry, and even genocide.
Today we will witness crimes of passion,
negligence, apathy, and premeditation.
Today we will watch the news reports of increased
debt, decreased wealth and inflamed poverty – right here in the United States.
And today, we will want Jesus to take care
of it all.
We will want to be like that old commercial for bath product – “Calgon
Take Me Away!” - but instead we will
want to shout: “Jesus – Take Us Away!”
In the midst of all of the troubles of this
world, we often wonder:
Where is Jesus?
Where is the one who loves us and has
given us his grace?
Where is the Savior of the world – because the
world needs some serious saving?
But what we must remember is that Jesus is
just where he said he would be. He is with the Father – and he sent us the Counselor
– The Holy Spirit to be in us and to help guide us through these dark and
trying times.
Jesus never promised us that life would be
easy.
He never promised us that we would have a world filled with sunshine,
rainbows and unicorns.
People will suffer – as much as we hate to see or even
to experience that suffering first hand – that is what scripture tells us; that
is what Jesus told us.
“In this world you will have trouble…” Not
exactly a Hallmark Greeting Card love letter – but it is the truth. This world is a
dangerous and sometimes quite despicable place to be, but it is not hopeless. No,
it certainly isn’t hopeless.
We can have hope because despite all of the
wicked ways of this world we have a thread of hope in the knowledge that Jesus
overcame this world. Jesus defeated all of the sin and the evilness of this
world with his single sacrificing act of death on a cross. We have hope because
we have Jesus in our hearts – because we have Jesus in our lives. We have hope
because we have Jesus as our Savior.
“In this world you will have trouble. But
take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Praise God from Whom All Blessings
Surely Do Flow!
Scripture
Quote
“Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.”
Mr. Cosby Himself - Bill Cosby
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