What are Christ-followers to do with all the difficulty and heartache of late? It’s been a tough several weeks to live in our world. Violence—both political and otherwise. International conflict. Social tensions. Exponential increase in vitriol-charged rhetoric. Public moral failure in church leadership. Truthfully, there have been days lately when the thought of moving to a desert island, far removed from any other people, has looked quite appealing.
As difficult as all of this has been to endure, history tells us of two significant truths God’s people must remember:
Life will be hard, but also, Jesus will be enough.
I know, I know; while Christians know those two things to be true, we can sometimes be convinced by “conventional wisdom” that there can be a “real solution” to all the pain and suffering associated with our world. “If we just changed the law,” or “If we could just work together,” or even, “When our (insert one) country/political party/church/city, etc. has finally had enough…” I get it. I really do. We want to experience change, peace, comfort, cessation of turmoil, and we want it now. But may I offer an alternative to the contemporary wisdom of our time suggests?
First, we need to believe Jesus.
He told his closest followers in John 16:33 that, “In this world you will have trouble (emphasis mine).” I say this not to encourage inactivity or disengagement in our culture, nor do I mean to insinuate that things are just going to be bad and there’s nothing we will ever be able to do about it. Far from it. I say this so that as believers, we can be better prepared. When I pack for a trip, I pack as if everything that could go wrong, will go wrong. In this way, I can confront any difficulty that may arise prepared, both mentally and physically, to address it. If we take Jesus at His word, we won’t always have to be reactive, but rather we can proactively engage whatever may come.
Secondly, and arguably most importantly, we must trust Jesus.
In His last few days leading up to His terrible crucifixion, Jesus’ parables and debriefing with his disciples became quite intense. In Matthew 24, for example, Jesus gave hearers insight into the events and signs that His return would be nearing. In verses 4-29, He warned of “birthing pains, fleeing impending perils, catastrophic upheaval in creation.” Of course, we must trust Jesus’ words regarding what we can expect prior to His return, but specifically, we must trust the promise made in verse 35 of chapter 24:
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my Words will not pass away.”
What an interesting way to conclude such fearful imagery! It’s almost as if Jesus was saying, “pain, turmoil, trouble are coming, but remember, I am eternal. My Words will endure, and in that, you can rest.” Just prior to His ascension, Jesus famously concluded His “Great Commission” passage in Matthew 28 with familiar language: “And I will be with you to the very end of the age.”
Same Jesus, same audience, same message: “You will endure trouble and uncertainty, but I will be here for you.”
Christians have a unique opportunity in the midst of such tumultuous times as ours. When human institutions fail to protect from the effects of sin in a fallen world, we can be prepared and not reactionary. Though the initial shock of a particular event may certainly trouble us, we need not wring our hands in bewilderment.
Jesus warned of days like these. And during these times, because we trust what Jesus promised about Himself and His Word, we can offer that comforting peace found nowhere else. To quote a guy who was no stranger to difficult times himself, Paul encouraged the church saying, “Be anxious for nothing but in everything, with prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God; and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
What an awesome opportunity we have in the midst of difficult times!
