April 26, 2018 – John 16
"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
Knowing Jesus gives
us peace IN the trouble--and that's when our witness shines best for Jesus.
Nobody said being a Christian wasn’t messy, but that’s what
we want to believe when we give our lives to Jesus. (At least that’s what I wanted to believe.)
He was a troubled teen, from a difficult background. The relationship with his dad was deeply
strained, and the crowd he hung out with was into behaviors that were
destructive. Recent struggles had taken
him to the bottom of a deep pit, and that’s when he started coming to
church. Through the youth minister’s
help, the boy discovered Jesus, and expected his life to turn around. But his dad was not impressed, and he found himself
lonely when his old friends abandoned him and the church teens still didn’t
trust him. Wasn’t it supposed to get
better?
She also came from a difficult childhood, but had made a way
for herself by working hard as a student, doing well in school and working at
various jobs. As she entered college,
things were looking up, until morning sickness warned of a coming child. The
boyfriend wasn’t impressed and encouraged an abortion, but she couldn’t do
it. A friend brought her to church, and
she gave her life to Jesus, but the new situation ended up disrupting her
schooling, sent her back home, and created even more tension with her
parents. Wasn’t Jesus supposed to help
her with this?
Jesus didn’t say He would remove all the struggles or fix
all the messes in our lives. Jesus promised to be there THROUGH the messes in
our life. He knew that we never learn or
grow without testing and trials, but didn’t want us to be alone in them. So Jesus tells us plainly: I am not your Santa Claus here to take away
all of your troubles, I am the one who gives you peace THROUGH the troubles.
Our relationship and faith in Jesus doesn’t usually grow
through easy times. It tends to grow
through crying out to God in the harder times.
When we stop grumbling about our problems and instead turn to Jesus with
our problems, He offers us peace and comfort.
That may not fix the problem, but often is exactly what we need to get
through the problem.
Getting through a problem is not the best part, it’s what
Jesus does with us after He helps us overcome the problem that is amazing. Because after giving us peace to navigate the
struggle, Jesus then uses us to bring others through their similar trials. He takes the boy and brings him through the
loneliness, using him to help other troubled teens change their lives by
meeting Jesus. He takes a girl whose
life was disrupted by a pregnancy, and uses her to encourage other girls who
end up facing the same challenge. God
empowers us with peace through the trial, so that we can bring peace to others
in their trial. Our witness shines best
when His peace helps us overcome.
We will always face trials in life, some caused by our
decisions, and some caused by others.
Jesus is ready to be there with us through those trials. Look for His peace. Cry out to Him in your need. Allow Him to carry you through the trial, and
watch what He does with you afterwards.
That’s the power of His Peace!
No comments:
Post a Comment