John 16:33 “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.”
Where there is light there too is darkness. The brighter your light shines the more the enemy wants to destroy it. I absolutely love this verse with every ounce of my being. So let's break it down, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace" in Christ alone we will have peace! Not money, not fame, fortune, not status, not a good job, not on the opinion of others, not in ANYTHING else only Christ can give us that peace. Those who know the Lord know the peace that I'm talking about the peace that looks chaos right in the face and says nope God's got this. That kind of overwhelming peace. "In this world you will have trouble." Scripture doesn't say for those who follow the Lord you get a free pass to the trouble free life. It doesn't say you'll have trouble when you live outside of my will. It doesn't say you'll have trouble sometimes. It doesn't say you might have trouble or maybe not. It says you WILL have trouble! But then comes a beautiful promise from God. "But, take heart! I have overcome the world." Isn't that amazing? God says whatever trouble you are facing let my peace overwhelm your heart, because I've already overcome the world so I can take care of your troubles no problem! To me that is one of the most beautiful promises God makes us. If we just get out of our own head and let him overwhelm our heads and hearts he is more than capable of overcoming our troubles.
Mark 15:33-39 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
As horrific as it must have been to witness the slow death of Jesus if you take His last few moments can't we sometimes identify with his loneliness. Don't we all find ourselves crying out to God, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" We've all felt at some point or another like we've fallen away from God like he's abandoned us, but little do we know he's about to tear the veil and reveal to us his plan if we can just hold on. There is NOTHING I repeat NOTHING you can do to make God stop pursuing you. He never gives up on us it is us who give up on God.
2 Timothy 1:7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. God didn't create us to be timid he creates us to love with a mighty power and funny enough he gives us self-discipline. I know it feels like that stuff flies out of the window the second times get tough, but that is exactly what we should lean on. God made you capable he gave you all the tools to keep fighting. So often in society I hear people say God doesn't ever give you anything you can't handle and I'm sure I was guilty of saying those very words, but I've come to realize that I don't really think that's true. If we always do what we've always done then we'll always be what we've always been. If we never push a little harder and bare a little more weight then we thought we could we never grow stronger. Think of it in terms of working out if you always bench 100 pounds and never add weight then you will always bench 100 pounds. If you add weight then you get a little stronger!
God made you strong and courageous. He made you fearless and He walks with you through every storm. Do not give in to the world. Do not listen when the world says your not good enough. Do not listen when the world says you aren't strong enough. Do not listen when the world says you can't handle it. Do not listen to any words that can't be used to build you up. If God is for us who can be against us? The enemy wants to break down all that God has built up in you- DON'T let him.
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