I Have Overcome this World

"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

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." - 2 Corinthians 4:17

These verses came to mind yesterday when I was sitting in my pastoral crisis intervention class.The prof showed us some pictures of people in crisis and then a painting of Jesus on the cross, all the while playing a song about Jesus having been where we are.He asked us how we felt.I realized I felt a mixture of sadness,hurt, and hope.One of the amazing things about being a Christian is that if you truly believe in the "foolishness of the cross," then there is always hope.No matter how dark the situation is, there is hope and that is an amazing truth to grasp onto.

I've always loved the above verse from JOhn. In a sense, it is a promise that life is going to be hard (which some people don't want to believe is true when you're a Christian), but it is also a promise that Jesus has already conquered all of our hard times.We will not be crushed or defeated, but we have the hope of Jesus on our side.

I also love love love the verse from 2 Corinthians.In the midst of difficult sitautions, we can rest assured that all these things are just temporary and pale in comparison to the glory that awaits us.Does that not fill you with hope and excitement? Does that not provide you with a comfort that is almost unimaginable?

So here I am.I am facing a semester that I can only describe as overcommitted.It's my own fault.I just want to do what I love and practicality flew out the window a while back.The Lord is giving me a chance to either choose to trust Him that I can do this, or to stress and make this even harder for myself.I'm going to trust.It's going to be hard.I'm going to mess up.I'm going to cry and vent a lot.But,I have hope.It lies in the cross.It was brought by Jesus' blood and broken body.It was sealed when Jesus rose from the dead.He is ALIVE!!!! So live life like that's true....