Encouragement

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

I was incredibly close to stepping down from pastoral ministry last week. Satan had been increasingly firing his flaming arrows and the strains of ministry were truly wearing me down. Satan is the author of fear, and he uses doubt as a powerful tool in his arsenal against me. I was wounded heavily, and questioned everything. I opened up my heart from the pulpit and plead for prayer and encouragement. This week God has spoken to me in many ways and provided the encouragement that I needed to stand again. I have seen fruit from the ministry He gave me, and it has helped me to regain the strength to fight the good fight. I have been encouraged very directly in God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit has been revealing truth and opening up my mind to glimpses of what he may have planned for me. Encouragement brought by God through his Word and his saints when I needed it the most; thank you Jesus.

Jesus was telling his disciples he was leaving them. He was speaking of his return and the gift of the Holy Spirit that was coming to those who believed. He was encouraging them for their time to come as his friends; he was telling them how much he loved them in so many ways. He was telling them the hard truth; how they would not only abandon him, but even would be persecuted and die for their faith. Just after this verse above, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed his longest prayer recorded in the gospels. John 17:20 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

This passage in John 16 is difficult for smiling preachers and prosperity gospels; Jesus himself says that we will have tough times for our short time this side of paradise. But wound up in that passage is the peace of one that understands their salvation and that the tribulations of this world are truly temporary. How could you ever enjoy the ocean with the fear or pain of hot sand? God uses all the tough times in life to point you to your need for him. You do one of two things; you get mad at God and flee from him, or you see your need for him and draw near. Both of these can have eternal consequences, but also rewards.