(Jeremiah 17:5-8; John 16:31-33)
As Jesus had the cross on His mind and was preparing to take the sins of the whole world upon Himself, He still had concerns for His disciples whom He would be leaving soon. The world around them was in an uproar, simply because of Jesus Christ. His teaching opposed everything the Jewish leaders had taught concerning God, His Word, and the demand it placed upon holiness, righteousness, and mercy.
John reminds us that although through Moses the Law had been given to Israel it would be through Jesus, the Son of God that grace and truth would come (John 1:17). And that because of the relationship between the two—God the Father and the God the Son, Jesus Christ; through Him, Jesus would reveal or as one translation read, He would make God known to us (ESV).
Looking around at the world around us today we see some of the same things still taking place. There is chaos in the world, along with a great amount of deception. No matter where we look there are events going on that is keeping the rest of the world in a certain level of despair and uncertainty. This is certainly what Satan desires to do in an effort to draw people away from God, and to place our focus on man-made solutions.
Going back to John 16:33 as Jesus was preparing to go to the cross as I shared with you in the beginning, His concern was for His disciples and listen to His word; “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
For Christian’s today, in this season, during this time, in what seems to be the most pivotal election in American history when it seems like what we are hearing is one side over the other. We can have a certain level of stability, comfort and courage moving forward in the wave’s of uncertainty and chaos. As the means and the source of God’s divine favor and the ultimate source of truth spoken as well as written we can be at peace. Regardless of who is in control in Washington DC and in the midst of all the tribulation around us it has no victory over us because Jesus has already defeated the man-made institutions that Satan desires to work his will and purpose through (Jer 17:5-6).
In Jeremiah 17:8 we can gain a better understanding that ties Jesus’ command directly to what the Lord God revealed would take place for those who believe and trust the Lord. “Blessed is the man who trust in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream, and he will not fear when heat comes; but its leaves will be green and it will not be anxious in a year of drought, nor cease to yield fruit.” (NASB). This is precisely what Jesus declared when He said in a world filled with tribulation, we can have peace and courage. And all of this come about by the One in whom our trust and faith has been placed, in the Lord God, Himself. Jesus reminds His disciples of the same thing in John 16:31 when He answered and said, “do you now believe?”
This is how we find peace and courage and furthermore this is how we share with others how they too can find peace and courage in the midst of tribulation, by trusting God rather than man. And when we do, He will continue to produce in and through us the fruit that will draw other to God, Himself where they too will find Hope that holds through the storms of life and the tribulation that is in the world.