A long time ago, I determined that one of the foundational truths of life is that ‘cars are man’s curse to himself’. That tells you a little bit about the past week in the Hughes family. One car after another has gone down, and we have been playing shuffle the cars around so everyone is [hopefully] covered.
Another foundational truths of life is this: “life is conflict oriented.” Without being a pessimist, I have come to the conclusion that conflicts and difficulties are an unavoidable part of life, even if they are unfortunate and un-welcomed. Jesus seemed to think this as well. He said “In the world, you will have tribulation…” (John 16:33) This word “tribulation” is a powerful Greek word meaning ‘having to deal with the pressures of life that seems to hem us in and appear that there is no way of escape’.
Obviously things go wrong on a daily basis for each one of us. Most of these mishaps are normal bumps in the road. However, there are times in our lives where the bumps seem abnormally big and strangely frequent. Sometimes the conflicts in life seem to be deeper and more significant that just our normal frustrations. Sometimes the difficulties of life involve the depths of our soul that go beyond our thoughts and emotions. Sometimes the battle is actually spiritual in nature. Sometimes we have a sense and even a glimpse that the warfare we face includes the powerful reality that we need the presence of God to protect us, guide us and empower us. This is the Spiritual Warfare we are talking about this summer on Sunday mornings.
Let’s turn back to John 16:33… Jesus continued His comments concerning having tribulation in this world. He transitioned by saying “But” (circle it, seriously, CIRCLE IT). He instructs the disciples to “take heart” (be courageous, to show unflinchingly bold courage from an inner confidence that is produced by the Spirit of God in our lives). Wow… now that is an amazing thought. We can be bold and confident in the face of tribulation and spiritual warfare because the Spirit of God is with us and in us. The really amazing thing is that we can be overcomes because He has overcome the world already!!! He leads us in triumph. He paves the way. In fact, He is our triumph. It is in the fact that HE IS our victor. The battle is already won, but He asks us to fight it with His armor. Now that is what we are talking about this summer.