“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 world.” (John 16:33)
Lord Jesus, thank you for not “spinning” or spiritualizing life on earth. “Trials and sorrows” are normative for those you love, not rare. But because of who you are and the peace you give, taking heart and having heart are to be way more normative than losing heart. We will never experience a single Christ-absent, peace-empty, mercy-lacking, grace-void day. Thank you.
So, help us reason like Paul. “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). Give us Paul’s “gospel-math.” When added up, the glorious things you’ve prepared for us in the future, far, far, far out value all the sorrow we’ll experience in this life. That’s not “sky-pie,” it’s our living and sure hope.
And grant us Peter’s perspective. “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pet. 5:10). No matter how many years you give us in this world, suffering in this life is for “a little while.” In the big scheme of things, it’s only going to hurt a little longer—a few more minutes on heaven’s clock. Thank you, Jesus. So Very Amen.