“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, KJV)
I’m writing on 9/11/18.
At 9:30 this morning our team of Wally Armstrong, Bill Rogers, myself, and a few others, bowed to the tribulation promised by Hurricane Florence. We rescheduled the Payne Stewart Cup at Pinehurst Resort, an event we have been planning for two years, to September 2019. No one wanted to, but we saw no other choice.
One friend from Texas wrote saying he was canceling. “I’ve been through seven hurricanes in recent years,” he said. “I don’t want fly into one.”
At the time, I was oblivious that our decision came on 9/11, a day Americans will long remember.
Jesus promises three things in this today’s verse:
First, we will have tribulation. Not might. But will. It is certain.
Second, even in the midst of tribulation, we can have peace. This is also certain.
Third, we see how. We can have his peace in tribulation because he has overcome the world.
It’s easy to say, “All things work together for the good” (Romans 8:28), when you see someone else going through a trial. But when a hurricane-kind-of-trial hits you, you can be numbed with shock. It happened to me when my coach walked me onto the ninth hole of the Odessa (Texas) Country Club and said, “Jimmy, your brother Sonny was killed last night.”
The day after, I reeked with anger. Toward God, if there was one. I didn’t want to believe it happened.
As you read this devotion, you’ll already have read of North Carolina’s worst hurricane since 1954.
Whether it was the worst or one of the worst, I find hope in Jesus words, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
I cannot read the first four words and feel hope. The idea of being of good cheer when a brother dies or a building crushes a loved one seems like hogwash.
Jesus’ words, “I have overcome the world,” change my paradigm. I see him calm on the throne, with a plan to bring good out of bad as only he can do. I have seen him do this over and over these past 60 years of following him.
He is our Rock. Our hope. He holds the universe together. And he promises, no matter what the circumstances, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
No matter how big your hurricane.
—
Jim Hiskey
September 19, 2018
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.