As Jesus describes troublesome times, the heart of His message is not about trouble, but about what we should be looking for during trouble to help us overcome the trouble. The Good News of Jesus Christ is not that there will not be trouble, but that He is help when we face trouble.
The Good News of Jesus is reserved for disciples. If you’re not a disciple, then Jesus is not Good News for you, He’s not Help for you. There’s a difference between being a believer and being an unbeliever, between being faithful and being unfaithful, between being saved and being lost. To know the joy of redemption in trouble, then we must be committed to discipleship. Trouble is life’s crucible—it tries and challenges us. But if we are disciples of Jesus, then the more trouble tries us, the more we learn to lean on Him.
The Good News of Jesus doesn’t depend on ideal conditions. Some can’t be happy because we are waiting to get happy. But when we have Jesus Christ, we learn that contentment comes from knowing Him, trusting Him and submitting ourselves to Him. Paul says, I’ve learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:12, 13).” Even when conditions are not what we would want them to be, we will learn that, with Jesus, we have enough.
The Good News of Jesus is stronger than our trouble. Times of struggle produce opportunities for Jesus to do something special. Paul says, “We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:3-5)!”
(We invite your comments. Feel free to share this devotion with your friends and invite them to subscribe by forwarding their email address to the Pastor at: fredjeffsmith@gmail.com.)
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