Tribulation

Notes From The Pastor’s Trumpet:

by Eld. J.C. Stanaland … 7-9-14

“ye shall have tribulation”

John 16:33  “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Tribulations are those events of life that rob us of peace, joy, and rest.  Tribulations impose upon us anxiety, sadness, fear, and weariness.  Just hours before His crucifixion, our Lord frankly told His Apostles (and us) that “In the world ye shall have tribulation”; that is, as we live out our lives we can expect to face events that will press us down with anxiety, sadness, fear, and weariness.  Oh how doleful our tenure in this world would be if the Lord had not continued to explain.  However, He did continue, and He exhorts us to “be of good cheer”; that is, even in the face of “tribulation” we have good cause to have an uplifted spirit and to be cheerful.  The Lord declares, “I have overcome the world”; that is, He has power to overcome our “tribulation” and its cause.  Notice that He did not tell us that He would give us blissful lives without “tribulation” in this present world, but that He has “overcome the world”.  Therefore, we can face our “tribulation” “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (I Peter 5:7) as we “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).  Furthermore, we look forward to the same ultimate and great relief that the Lord promised to the thief on the cross, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).  The very knowledge that the Lord has “overcome the world” should invoke a sigh of relief and peaceful joy even though we are in the midst of a dreadful “tribulation”.

Larry Wise Remarks:

Notice how tribulation ultimately leads to the love of God as Paul explains in Romans 5:3-5: “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” The love of God in the person of Jesus Christ overcame the world that produces tribulation and God’s children can be overcomers through Him that loved to the ultimate degree in giving His life. We are “more than conquerors” through Him that loved us. Things in the world take us by surprise at times and we may be like King Jehoshaphat who knew not what to do when faced with an enemy that was superior but his cry was “Our eyes are upon Thee”. I trust that is where are eyes are directed in the times of prosperity as well as in the times of tribulation.