Thank you for helping to support Peace Devotions through your prayers, likes, and shares.
If you’d like to support our ministry financially, you can donate here.
Are you worried?
John 16:33
When you look at the world around you, does it terrify you the way things are going? When you watch the news, are you horrified by what you see? Are you worried about the future? Are you shocked by the twists and turns that your life seems to take? These things can concern us, but they really shouldn’t be a shock. They shouldn’t be a surprise. This isn’t unexpected. Jesus never promised us a rose garden. In fact, quite the opposite. In John 16:33 he says,
In this world you are going to have trouble. (John 16:33)
We live in a broken world, surrounded by broken sinners. In Matthew 13 he tells us that we are wheat living among the weeds. So none of this should be unexpected what we see in the world around us. What is unexpected is his love for the world, despite its brokenness, his love for those around us, despite their brokenness, and his love for us, despite our brokenness. He saw this world and all of its corruption and all of its brokenness. And what was his response? God loved the world so much that he sent his Son.
Jesus was born as one of us. He lived as the perfect wheat among the weeds, living a perfectly loving life. And then he even died for this broken, troubling world. And in so doing, he won the victory over it. Going back to John 16:33, what does it say? It says,
In this world you are going to have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
And that’s what he did by his death and and by his resurrection. He paid for the sins of the world, and he made peace between us and God. He reconciled the world to himself and he defeated Satan, death, and hell. In John 14 he says, Peace I give to you. My peace I leave you not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not be troubled, and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)
And so we see the things around us. We see the things in life and its reason for concern. We don’t like to see these things. It saddens us. But as Christians we live in peace. We have the peace that only God can give us. We have hope. And so what do we do? We stay in the word because God’s Word is where he fills us with the peace and the hope and the joy and the love that we have in him, and that get us through these difficult times. And His word is where he keeps our eyes focused on our homeland of heaven that he won for us.
And then we look out at the world around us. And what do we see? A ripe mission field. We see a world full of souls that need the hope and joy and peace that we have. And so we look for opportunities to share this hope, joy, peace, and love with those around us. Let’s pray.
Dear Father in Heaven, we thank you for sending your son. Dear Jesus, we thank you for coming to this broken world, living among us, and then dying for this world so that we might have hope and every reason for joy and peace. We thank you for winning us peace with God. We ask that you would continue to be with us and speak to us through Your Word, especially when we face troubling and concerning times. Keep our eyes focused on the homeland of heaven that you won for us and to which you are leading us. We pray this in your name. Amen.
