Thanks for stopping by! This is Day 20 of my 2015 “31 Days Reflecting on God” series. Find the rest over here.
I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, but take courage—I have overcome the world. John 16:33
I fight daily against the power of the word “overwhelming.” Once I start to believe that I’m overwhelmed by stuff in my world, I’m done. Phrases like, “I can’t do this anymore. I’m not cut out for this. I can’t handle this. Why did I sign up for this?” start coming out of my mouth. I’m defeated and I haven’t even tried to take on the enemy.
Some days it’s trouble making me feel that way. Piles of work to be done. Uncompleted projects. Disappointments. Demands from the people around me.
And some days it’s suffering that overwhelms. Tragedies in the news. Deep pain from the past in my life or my friends’ lives. Stories about kids from broken homes. Violent crime in our city or another nearby.
It’s the nature of the world to overwhelm us. God calls himself “the light” and the world and the works of the enemy “the darkness.” I think of how a dark night engulfs the world – swallows up everything in it. Darkness conceals and separates things.
But we’re not walking in this darkness alone. God is always with us. Sometimes his presence brings a warm lantern glow that guides as we journey. Sometimes he brings a spotlight that scares away anything lurking in the shadows. Sometimes he just sits with us in the candlelight through the dark. And sometimes he just flips on the light switch and sends the darkness running altogether.
Sin is our greatest trouble and brings our greatest suffering. When Jesus took the blame for our sin, dying on the cross, he crushed that darkness with his heel. He rose from the dead in the bright light of new life and won victory over his worst enemy.
If he can overcome the sin that is the root of all other evils and troubles in the world, he can definitely overcome whatever overwhelms us today.
I think sometimes I forget that he’s overcome the world because the enemy is still fighting. Jesus promises ultimate defeat for our enemy in the end. Maybe I’m not walking in victory because I’m just waiting for that final day of overcoming. But Jesus also promises daily victory over sin and suffering in our daily lives. He saved me in the past, sustains me in the present, and will deliver me completely in the future.
Heaven promises our release from sin, pure hearts within us, and the complete absence of pain and death. Jesus has overcome and we can walk today in that truth toward the reality of a future without darkness at all.