John 16:1-4
"I've told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he's doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I've told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you'll be well-warned and ready for them.”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
One of the hardest things for us to understand after we become Christians is why rough times still come. Didn’t Jesus tell us to come to Him and He would take our burdens and give us rest? Absolutely! But here He is also warning us that there will be rough times… challenges… even ridicule and rejection by others.
Notice that He says that these people who mistreat us never really understood the Father. Do we understand God? Do we understand why He allows us to be tested and endure rough times? Just how faithful do you think we would be to God if He never tested us?! Look at all Jesus suffered. Surely we have experienced nothing that even comes close to resembling His “rough times,” have we?!
But we have all been challenged. We have faced trials and temptations and ridicule and rejection. And if we have remained faithful and trusted God to orchestrate the outcomes, we have survived… and been strengthened.
In the following verses of John 16, Jesus explains about His Holy Spirit and how we can be forever filled, guided, and protected by His indwelling. And I will talk about this in coming days. But for now, I want us to recognize that Jesus said flatly that we would face adversity and “rough times”… but He also said He would never leave us!
We must be mindful of this as we go about our daily living… and we must be careful when we share the Good News of Jesus with others that we do not give them a false impression that all of their worries and challenges are over completely, once they invite Him to be LORD of their life. In order to truly know God, we have to know that we will go through things… but the operative word is through! When we let God have control, He makes sure we never have more than we can handle with His help!
So realize that life with Jesus is a zillion times better than life without Him… but you still may have to go through some stuff! Just know that He is with you, every step of the way… and you will survive if you trust Him to guide your steps.
©2011 Debbie Robus
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