THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

A friend in ministry who just lost his beloved wife not long ago just received the news from his doctor that he has leukemia. I was sad . . . and confused. For years he took care of his ailing wife, during which time he had to drop almost everything he was doing. He barely finished one difficult chapter of his life; now he is about to embark on another difficult chapter. Life is full of troubles.

On the night He was arrested, Jesus Our Lord told His disciples, “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for My Father is with Me. 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 16:32-33)

You see, Jesus Our Lord never gave us misleading let alone false promises. He said the truth and the truth about life is that it is full of troubles. He didn’t promise a trouble-free life or an always trouble-solved life; sometimes trouble lingers on for a long time. And sometimes trouble comes so strongly that we feel “scattered.”

He knew what He was talking about because He went through it Himself. He was “scattered” and left alone but He knew He was never alone—His Heavenly Father was always with Him. Perhaps we feel “scattered” and so near to breaking down today. Take heart! He is with us; He has overcome the world and all its troubles.

Charles Stanley in his book, The Glorious Journey, likens life to a Special Olympics for Children, where everyone who competes has disability. The winner is not who gets to the finish line the fastest; the winner is simply who gets to the finish line. So, walk on.

Pastor Paul