#john 15

Yesterday I felt overwhelmed by everything going on in the world. I've been overwhelmed for a while. I live in America and I am overwhelmed by the upcoming election, the murderous police brutality that Sonya Massey faced, the genocide going on in Gaza, and the wars in both the Congo and Sudan. And of course, I'm always overwhelmed by my own sin. I cried out to God over and over again "Why was I made to die?" I meant this because each day my sin makes me die and I need to rely on God's grace, it makes me feel both helpless and at times hopeless. I want to stop sinning and I want to see God's justice prevail instead of the world's evilness. I know of the countless Bible verses that say God will bring evildoers to their knees, that justice will always prevail, and that He comes by the sword. But I couldn't help but ask God, when?

Because to me it felt as though evil was prevailing and justice was failing.

But then I found another song stuck in my head "Born to Die" a Christmas song encompassing how Mary must have felt when Jesus was born. Each day we kill ourselves with our own sins and each day Jesus saves us, an everlasting gift of life. Jesus lived in the same "bodily tent" as us, his own apostle plotted to kill him. Jesus says: "No one has greater love than this: than to lay down his life for his friend." John 15:13 So it was probably the worst betrayal for him to be sold out by a friend. Jesus understands like no other how evil this world is, he understands our sufferings, and he feels our pain. He feels the world suffering. I often get caught up by the weight of what's going on in the world that I forget what I'm up against. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

God promises us everlasting peace and life through Jesus Christ. God promises that blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

John 16:33 tells us that the battle is already won: "You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world."

We were not made to die. We die because of our sins, but we were made to serve in the greatest kingdom there ever will be, The Kingdom of God. The world's evilness might be too much for us to bear, but it is not too much for Jesus, for he's already conquered it all. We must stay focused on what's at hand, and what's really at stake. Our souls.

Lord, I pray a prayer of surrender I pray that all reading this surrender to you. Lord, we are not fighting earthly evils but spiritual evils that you've already defeated. We have been born again in you, we have light because of you, we have hope because of you, we have EVERYTHING because of you. I surrender my anxieties and I encourage those reading this to do the same. We lose peace when we forget your holy name but Lord we pray to remember it. To remember that you've already won and that the Devil will never defeat you. Amen.