7 day plan

Trusting God in difficult times

Day 5 of 7

NIV

John 16:33

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.”

Reflection:  For further reference please see John 14:27

John 16:33 isn’t a verse that you usually find printed on journals or fridge magnets or photo frames.  It’s not a verse we really want to hear or remember.  But as Christians, we must learn to trust no matter what because God doesn’t promise that our lives will be easy.  The Bible doesn’t promise that bad things won’t happen – in fact it says that they will.

Because we WILL have trouble, trust is an ongoing imperative. Because we WILL have trouble, we must find our peace in him.

Jesus wasn’t making a purely academic statement.  He was no stranger to trouble and trouble was no stranger to him!  But in the midst of trouble Jesus was at peace.  Perhaps you remember the story of Jesus and his disciples being caught in a storm while they were out on the lake in a fishing boat?  The storm was fierce, and the disciples were terrified, but Jesus wasn’t.  He was so relaxed about the situation that he was actually asleep! Of course, even greater trouble was to come…

Jesus wasn’t making light of the trouble we experience – far from it.  He was acknowledging the difficulties and trials of this world and he cared so much about this that he chose to enter our world and suffer alongside us.  In doing this, he offers us his hope and his peace not in spite of, but in the very midst of all we experience.

Question:  Are you experiencing trouble?  Does it help you to know that Jesus experienced trouble too?  What would help you to know his hope and peace?

Prayer:  I’m tired and weary, Lord, and troubled and distressed by the events of this world.  It feels like a raging storm and I’m frightened.  As I call out to you for help, be with me I pray.  Amen.

Days

John 16:1-33

1“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

12“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy

16Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

17At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

19Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

25“Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

29Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

31“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32“A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

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.”