29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:29-33 ESV)
Jesus inserts a bit of humor and sarcasm into his last teachings to his disciples. They have been following Jesus for 3 years. He has been fulfilling all the prophecies about being the Messiah. In fact, he taught them directly with the authority of God and said himself he is the son of God. Finally, on the penultimate night, they finally admit their belief in who Jesus said he was. That got me thinking about our own faith: how much do we really believe until we actually believe in full?
Like, what kinds of doubt do you hang up over in regards to trusting Jesus fully with your life? Have you given that any thought?
For me, the biggest doubt I have when faced with trusting Jesus fully is sharing my faith with other people, especially sharing my faith with people who have some church background and yet don’t believe. You see, something happened in their lives where they stopped believing or stopped trying to believe, and so I always have a big hang up in trusting God with sharing my testimony with them because “I know” how the conversation will end with people like that.
For you, it may not be that at all. Maybe you don’t fully trust in Jesus when it comes to your health, or your child’s wellbeing, or your career. Most of us will have an area of doubt in trusting Jesus and that’s okay. The disciples each had their hang up in faith.
Jesus, being Jesus, calls out his original disciples breaking point in trust. It would be watching their rabbi die on the cross on Good Friday. But here’s the good news: Jesus comes back. He always comes back. So we take heart when our faith is challenged and stifled by doubt. We move forward with courage. We will meet Jesus on the other side of that doubt and be strengthened in faith.
Pray that when we are faced with faith breaking circumstances, that we don’t succumb to faithlessness, but can move forward in bravery to trust in Jesus’ power to overcome. He did it once already on the cross and when he did, he overcame sin and death and the power of this world.
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