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 16:33
Finding Peace in Your Troubled World
The title may cause an immediate reaction for you to think, “my personal world isn’t troubled”. But to that point I would ask that you name one person who at some point in their life did not experience something that caused their world to be troubled.
Every person that has ever walked the face of the earth has experienced trouble. God tells us that we will have trouble. This verse emphatically states it in the second sentence. But immediately before that statement, there is a promise and hope of peace.
As I began thinking on this topic I thought of my own experiences and began the list of some, if not all, areas that likely have affected every person.
Relationships, financial hardships, loss of or unhappiness of employment, diagnosis of illness, wayward child or grandchild…the list can go on and on.
And when we are in the depths of troubling times, what do we spend the majority of our time doing? Worrying, so much so that we forget that, as believers, we have been given a promise. Not a promise of no trouble in our life, but a promise that God will not forsake us and will give us peace if we seek Him and if we will turn the situation over to Him, completely. Laying it at His feet so that He can pick it up and carry it. When we do this there is a total peace that is experienced and the time that we previously spent worrying turns into prayers of praise knowing that God will lead us in walking through the situation. He desires that we rely on Him, not as a last resort, but from the very beginning.
Further support of this is found in 1 Peter 5:7. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.
And, Philippians 4:6-7. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- Written by our Lighthouse Mentors