Forrest Gump, in the movie that goes by his name, famously said: “My Mama always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’” Forrest’s Mama was a smart lady! Just when you think you know what you are doing, or what you are getting, when the last piece of chocolate you ate was delicious, life throws you a curveball. Or maybe it’s your kids, or your husband, or your boss that throws the curveball. Whoever or however the curveball is delivered, it comes at you when you least expect it and when you are most likely to be feeling content with how things are going. How you see that curveball, the meaning that you give to it, how you have prepared for it, will determine the outcome.
God tells us in His Word that we should expect curveballs. John 16:33 tells us “…In the world you have tribulation…” (trouble or suffering). In Psalm 23 verse 4, David writes “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me; Your rod and Your staff [shepherd’s equipment to help sheep] they comfort me.” God tells us that bad things will happen and promises to be with us in the worst of circumstances. Back to John 16: before Jesus told His disciples that they would have tribulation in the world, He said to them in the first part of v.33: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace….” “These things” …what are they? Whatever they are, I want to know so that I can have His peace in the midst of curveballs coming at me!
Jesus said a lot in the Gospel of John before making the statement to His disciples in v.33 “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation,…”. Let me pull out a few that stand out to me.
John 14:27:“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
Jesus Christ promised His disciples that they would experience a peace previously unknown to the world, given by Him. Imagine a place and time when you are at peace. Imagine what it feels like, smells like, looks like. Imagine yourself in that place. Feels great, right? Until an unexpected storm creeps up and wrecks it! The peace we have through faith in Jesus Christ goes farther than that. It is beyond our understanding, because it is not found in things we can experience with our five senses, but only in what we can experience through spiritual senses. Philippians 4:7 echoes this when Paul writes: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We comprehend with our minds, but this peace goes beyond what we can grasp with minds, yet protects our minds from things that might cause distress. In the absence of peace, there is often chaos and instability. Imagine watching that curveball coming at you, not knowing exactly what direction it’s going to take, and experiencing peace. Having incomprehensible peace when you have a curveball flying towards you…what a gift!
In John 13, Jesus has His last supper with the disciples, washes their feet and tells them of His coming betrayal. Jesus must have known how heavily His words weighed on their hearts, because He starts out the following chapter by encouraging them that what is about to happen gives them a hope for the future, even though at the time they did not fully grasp what He was saying.
John 14:1-3: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
As a believer in Jesus Christ, we have an expected end: we know that we will spend eternity with Him and with the Father. Revelation 21:22-23 describes the new Jerusalem “22I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” That is our expected end, to spend eternity in the presence of God. No need of a church or temple to congregate in to worship together: just stand together in front of God and worship! No need to turn lights off and on to dispel darkness: the Light is always on and darkness has been dispelled already! We may not know what curveballs life throws at us, but when we have confidence that God in His grace and mercy has granted us salvation through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, curveballs lose their power to rock our world. We KNOW what our end will be, and everything else is temporary.
Throughout chapters 14, 15, and 16, Jesus speaks to His disciples of the coming of the Holy Spirit.
John 14: 16-17 “16I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”
John 14:26 “26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”
John 15:26 “26“When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, 27 and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
John 16:7 “7But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”
In their heaviness of heart, Jesus was trying to encourage His disciples by letting them know that even if they did not understand it at that time, His departure would end up being a blessing for them. I am not a Greek scholar, but sometimes it’s useful to dig deeper into the meaning of words that are translated into our English language; English is a beautiful language that sometimes falls short of conveying the full beauty of the meanings of words. The word translated in the above passages as “helper” is the Greek word “parakletos”. It means “one called alongside to help, comforter, advocate, intercessor”. That’s a lot of depth wrapped into one word! This “parakletos” that Jesus speaks about, and will send, wears many hats; He is the Spirit of truth, abides in us, is with us forever, will teach us, will remind us and will testify about Jesus. If He is all those things, I think He can certainly handle a few curveballs! Jesus promised to never leave us alone, because the Holy Spirit, “parakletos”. that He sent, is always with us and will teach us how to handle those surprises that life likes to throw our way. We by ourselves are not able, but in the power, knowledge and truth of the “Parakletos”, we are able.
When we rest in Him, allow His peace to surround us and remain in us, as He promised, life’s curveballs are not so disruptive. When we have confidence that He will handle them with us, and will teach us how to handle them, they don’t seem so scary. When we are assured that our end involves remaining in and with the Light of the world for eternity, while curveballs come and go, they have no power. When we focus on the solution, Christ, and not the problem, curveballs, we are enabled and empowered to knock them out of the park and score a home run!
Jesus is the Light of the world. There is no darkness in Him. When we rest and remain in Him, we live in His light, which exposes the darkness. God bless you as you continue to seek the face of our Lord. He promises us that those who seek Him will find Him!
Living in the Light of the world 