"In this world you will have trouble"

-Jesus, John 16:33

I wish those words weren't in the Bible, but they are.  Not only are they in the Bible, they were spoken by Jesus Himself.  And, like it or not, your life probably bears witness that our Lord's words are true.  Christians are not exempt from trouble.  In fact, there are times when I think that Christians receive more than their fair share of trouble.   Sickness, injury, death, heartache, job loss, broken relationships, frustration, depression, persecution and more have been the Christian's lot for 2,000 plus years.

But there is something that makes our troubles much more bearable than the troubles of the non-believer. I cited John 16:33 at the top of this article.  Jesus' very next words are. "But take heart, I have overcome the world!"

We will be celebrating Easter in just a few short weeks.  The Resurrection of Christ gives us hope on so many levels.  One such level is the knowledge that one day our troubles will be past and we will be with God forever.   The Apostle Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal

It may be hard to think of the problems crushing us now as "light and momentary", especially when it seems that they will never go away.  But we can be sure that one minute after we are in Heaven the troubles of this life will be forgotten.

Don't think that is possible?  Consider this: the past few days have been pretty warm here in Reynoldsburg.  Just yesterday (March 10), in fact, I saw someone out walking in shorts and a tee shirt.  What made that scene funny was that there were piles of rotting snow still dotting the landscape!  Raise the temperature just a few degrees and the long, harsh winter is all but forgotten!   How much more effectively will God be able to erase the troubles of this life when we are finally in His presence!

Take heart and see you soon!

Bill