May 14, 2015
1 John 5:5
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
CONSIDER THIS
The world is filled with trouble. From the trouble of temptation to the trouble of tragedy our lives our riddled with struggle and hardship. “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen,” so the song goes. There are troubled marriages and troubled children. There’s being in trouble with the law. Then there’s that proverbial bridge over troubled waters. There’s even a board game called Trouble.
The surprising thing is the way we seem to be continually surprised by the presence of trouble in our lives. So many people believe that Jesus is their “Get out of Jail Free” card. Ask the early Christians and they will tell you Jesus was more like a “Go Straight to Jail. Do not pass go and do not collect $200” card.
I once heard a preacher remark there were only two kinds of people in the world: those who were facing trouble and those who were about to be facing trouble.
When you think about it, you realize the only real difference between rich people and poor people is the rich people can afford to hold their troubles at bay longer.
Jesus didn’t mince words when it came to trouble. Here’s how he put it near the end of his life.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Today’s text makes it clear, there is no such thing as a trouble free life. There is only the promise of overcoming.
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
It brings to mind the prayer we learned through the days of Lent this past spring. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”
To follow Jesus means to see trouble completely differently than the world sees trouble. We tend to have it exactly backwards. We are surprised when we have trouble and doubtful that we can overcome it. Jesus says don’t be surprised when you have trouble; just expect to overcome it. It’s not a fatalistic or even pessimistic outlook on life, but it is a profound mind shift.
I remember being in a rural church in deep East Texas one night some years back. The song leader was leading the familiar old chorus, “There’s just something about that Name.” You know the song.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, There’s just something about that name. Master, Savior, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, let all heaven and earth proclaim. Kings and Kingdoms will all pass away but there’s something about that name.
Right in the middle of the song the worship leader suddenly stopped playing. He began telling a story as though he had just remembered it, of how as a child his mother taught him that the simplest and most powerful prayer a person could say was simply to say the name of Jesus. His very name is a prayer.
Jesus. It’s not a magic word, but it is the Name above all names. It will only be at the sound of this name that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. On that day, not only will all the trouble in the world be over and done with, but it will all have been worth it.
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
J.D. Walt writes daily for Seedbed’s Daily Text. He serves as Seedbed’s Sower in Chief. Follow him @jdwalt on Twitter or email him at jd.walt@seedbed.com. Get the Daily Text delivered to your inbox fresh every morning. Subscribe HERE.
All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.