Journey Through The Bible
     Old Testament Reading: Numbers 1-3
     New Testament Reading: John 16

I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world (John 16:33).

Jesus concludes His teaching in the Upper Room Discourse with words of encouragement to His disciples. They were confused and afraid concerning what Jesus had told them was about to happen. Jesus spoke of joy, but the eleven disciples certainly were not experiencing joy that evening. However, what Jesus said to them eventually made a difference in their lives, just as it can make a difference in our lives today.

The disciples would go through incredible pain and sorrow, but their grief would not last forever. The principle Jesus shared is that God brings joy to our lives, not by substitution, but by transformation.

To illustrate this, Jesus used a simple analogy of a woman giving birth. No matter how intense the labor, once that tiny priceless baby is laid in your arms, the pain is forgotten. In birth, God does not substitute something else to relieve the mother’s pain. Instead, He uses what is already there but transforms it. Jesus did not say that the mother’s pain was replaced with joy, but that the sorrow was transformed into joy. The same baby that caused the pain also caused the joy. And so, it is in the Christian life. God takes seemingly impossible situations and transforms trial into triumph and sorrow into joy.

Next, Jesus told the disciples to pray. Our Lord mentioned prayer many times in His ministry, and He set the example for prayer in His own life. He was certainly a man of prayer. When you read the book of Acts, you discover the early church depended on prayer. They believed the promises of God and asked God for spiritual strength to endure and for God to be glorified. There is indeed joy in praying and in receiving answers to prayer.

Jesus shared a third joy, the joy of sharing His victory over the world. Notice the contrast between in Me and in the world. In Christ there is peace, in the world there is suffering and tribulation. We as Christians are in Christ and, therefore, we can overcome the world and have the peace of God. The world wants us to conform; it doesn’t want us to be different. When we yield ourselves to Christ and trust Him, He enables us to be overcomers.

Be of good cheer! Is one of Jesus’ repeated statements of encouragement. There is peace when we permit God to transform our sorrow into joy. When God answers our prayers, there is peace. There is peace when we overcome the world. Even amid uncertainty, confusion, and sorrow, you can experience the Peace of God.