I’m not going to lie. I have felt like I’m barely keeping my head above water, lately. Between the coronavirus and some other stuff, Terry and I keep looking at each other like, “Is this for real? Are we living in the Twilight Zone?” Some mornings I wake up and replay things in my mind, trying to figure out if I had a bad dream or if this is reality.
I bet you feel something similar.
The enemy wants to isolate us during these times and whisper, “You’re alone. No one else has ever been through this. No one knows how you feel. No one cares.”
Friend, the enemy is a big, fat, ugly liar.
Jesus is with you, so you are not alone. Jesus has been through it. Jesus knows how you feel. Jesus cares.
Sometimes when I really love a verse, I’ll dig deep and look into other translations of it. My Bible is the NIV. (New International Version) So most scriptures I have memorized, I have memorized them in the NIV. But when I do research, I might find I like another translation, even better.
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33 (NLT)
The New Living Translation of this verse, to me, feels like Jesus sitting on the edge of our bed at night, reassuring me when I wake up frustrated/upset or stressed; angry or afraid. It’s like He sits there and holds me, rocking me as I cry and says, “Aimee, I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
If there was an even more modern version of this passage, I feel like it would be, “Aimee. Honey. You’re not listening. I already told you all of this. Why? So that you could have peace in Me. Here, today? On this side of My Father’s Kingdom? Yes. You are going to have so many trials and sorrows … bumps along the way. Things that are uncomfortable. Things that are upsetting. Things that are unfair. But take a deep breath (take heart), because I have defeated the enemy and all of the bad stuff. Go back to sleep. The enemy loses. I win.”
You see, when Jesus said,“But take heart,” He truly meant, calm down. Take a breath. Relax. He is reassuring us. “I have overcome the world.” When you pull out a thesaurus, synonyms for “overcome” are words like, “beaten, buried, conquered, overthrown, taken, defeated.”
Are you feeling overwhelmed today? Too much anxiety? Me too. But when I picture Jesus embracing me, saying, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me,” I am reminded my peace will not come from anyone or anything other than Jesus.
Take heart. Jesus overcame the world.
He’s got this. He’s got you.