“I have said these things to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world” – John 16:33
In the world you will have tribulation. Not you might, not you could, but you will. Jesus doesn’t pull any punches or sugar coat reality here at all, does He? That’s not how we tend to operate. So often people will try to downplay or minimize the lousy things that happen to us. “Oh, it’s not so bad.” “Hey, it could be worse.” As though that makes what I’m suffering right now any better! Yet that’s how we tend to think of comfort – simply telling people that it’s not that bad.
Jesus knows, though. He knows the world for what it is, He knows sin for what it is, what it can do and unleash upon people. He bears it all up upon Himself; He goes to the Cross and suffers the full weight of it – and He’s not up there whistling away or saying, “Well, at least it’s not raining, there’s a silver lining to all this darkness covering the land.” No! Jesus knows sin for what it is. He knows hardship for what it is. And Jesus is honest – He knows that you will face hardship.
But Jesus also tells you something that is even more profound than your sorrow – so profound that He has no need to minimize what you are going through in the slightest. He has overcome the world. The world did its worst to Jesus, crucified Him – yet He rose. Sin, death, and the Devil all came after Him loaded for bear, and He strode out of the tomb and proclaimed peace.
In the world, you will have troubles. And you don’t need to pretend it is otherwise, because you are also in Christ Jesus. You are baptized into Him. You are forgiven, redeemed, and life everlasting is yours. Christ Jesus has said so. So no matter how truly and honestly big and nasty the trouble of the day is – Jesus is still your Lord and Savior, and He has truly conquered all, and you do have peace and life and victory in Him. It’s not that your troubles aren’t really that’s big, it’s that your Savior is bigger than them all, and He still loves you.
