Read John 16:33 NLT
I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Sometimes I find myself stuck in the middle sentence of this verse…”Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.” It almost becomes a call to arms. I use it as a reason to build up my defenses – I either hunker down and wait out the storm or I put my head down and push on by force. God says I’m going to have struggles, so by golly, I am going to muscle through them somehow. And that is what I do when I encounter difficult things. If I am honest, most of the time I feel like I am just stuck in the middle of the muck, trudging through, trying to get to the other side of life or preparing for the next difficult thing.
But there are two other sentences in our verse for today. One comes before and one comes after. If we focus on the middle part of the verse, we completely miss out on the power and promise that God has for us on both sides of the difficulties we face. God promises us that we can experience peace through Him before He even mentions the struggles we will encounter. He also promises that, on the backside of those difficulties, we will see an ultimate display of His power as He overcomes the world.
Maybe God doesn’t tell us that we are going to experience trials so we can prepare ourselves. Maybe it is more of a reminder that we can trust Him during the difficult stuff…it is like He’s saying: “You don’t need to worry, I’ve got it all under control. Things may not go the way you think they are going to go…but in the end my love will prevail.”
I believe God wants us to live a life focused on His power and His promises. Don’t get stuck focusing on the struggle in the middle. Set your sights on the peace and power of God in your life.
