Cloudy With A Chance Of Trouble
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33
In South Mississippi, the weather predictions change by the hour. If you look at your weather app when you roll out of bed in the morning, the weather prediction is almost SURE to change by your mid-morning snack. In John 16:33, Jesus doesn’t say, “it’s cloudy with the chance of trouble.” Jesus says that we WILL have trouble. Unlike the weather reports in South Mississippi, this prediction is unfortunately assured. It’s almost a promise. We like to think of the promises of God as only good things. It’s hard for us to look at this and think “Yes! Trouble is a promise of God.” Fortunately for us, there are multiple promises in this verse. Yes, Jesus is promising that we will face trouble in this world, but he is also promising that he is with us, that we can have peace and joy in Him, and that He ultimately has overcome the world.
Sure, this sounds nice, but when the storm clouds well up and the rain starts to pour down, do we see this truth in our lives? If I’m honest, I’m normally still surprised when trouble shows up in my life. I know Jesus tells me that it’s coming, but I am often still taken back, left in surprise or shock when life throws me something that I don’t expect. Often, in the midst of hurt, the last emotion I feel is cheerfulness or joy. So how do we experience this? Jesus commands us, “be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
The word for “cheer” that Jesus uses in this passage is the Greek word “chairo”. It means to be “full of cheer, calmly happy or well-off, be well, be glad, to rejoice joyfully.”
It is the same root as the Greek word for joy, “chara” which is used throughout scripture. These words are so similar in meaning that they can actually be used interchangeably. Over the next few weeks, we are going to unpack how to uncover this cheer, joy, and peace that Jesus is describing. He says it is ours to grab onto, but so often we don’t feel or experience it in our lives. Join me in praying for an outpouring of cheerfulness in the days ahead.
