There are a lot of promises given in Scripture to those who follow Christ.
I enjoy reading those promises. Well, I don’t enjoy all of them. One promise reminds those who follow Christ that life is hard. John 16:33 states, “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.”
Did you catch the imperative in the verse? Christians will suffer in this world.
I found John 16:33 to be true in February 2011. My wife, Rachel, and I had recently joined a church planting team in Hendersonville, Tenn.. We were celebrating so much in life, like this new position in ministry that God had called us to. We were excited as I was ending my seminary education. God had blessed us with an energetic two-year old named Canon. And our second son, Will, would soon be born.
But that excitement soon turned to grief. On February 6, 2011, we found out that our soon-to-be-born son was going to be delivered and that he wouldn’t live long after his birth. William Thomas Rainer lived for 60 minutes.
Our world came crashing down.
My story is one of many. You may have that same moment when your world came crashing down. You may have friends or family that have walked through a time of loss. We all go through loss: loss of a child, loss of a job, loss of a dream, loss of a spouse, loss of a friend, loss of community, loss of something held so dear.
Too often, we deal with hard times and suffering reactively. I learned a…
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