Changing the Headlines
Written by Ian Jannaway
Today's word came from Suncoast’s Youth Pastor Steven Lawrence, continuing the theme of blinding lights.
The world can seem so dark, especially with everything that is going on. There is war and rumour of war, there are natural disasters happening, and then there is the global pandemic! Sound familiar? Mathew 24 says this:
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
Despite this there is still so much light in the world.
Steven posed the question “if you were to write a news article about your life, what would the headline be?” The news can seem overwhelming based on the headlines we read in the press, we deal with a lot of negative headlines in our lives. Have you noticed how the tv news focuses on all the negative stuff then slips in a good news story right at the end.? What does Jesus say about all of this? John 16:33 says this:
33 “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.”
Jesus’ followers were fully expecting him to take away all their issues, but Jesus is saying “hold on, not exactly, in many ways your lives are about to get a whole lot harder. They would have been saying to themselves, where is God in all of this?!” Jesus was saying to them, that the solution was stood in front of them.
Jesus is saying to us and them, that he has overcome the world and also any issues you may have, he is saying that this life thing you are doing, we are doing together. He was saying these things to his disciples amidst his own sea of troubles. He was facing his own death, Judas was about to betray him. Peter was about to deny him, and the rest of his disciples would abandon him. He must have felt very alone.
Note that Jesus does not say that he might overcome the world, he says that he HAS overcome the world! The light will always overcome the darkness.
John 12:36 says this:
36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid from them.
This is Jesus’ solution-your beliefs will shape your experiences. When you put your trust in someone who has shared your experiences, it enables you to move past your present circumstances. Inviting Christ in shines a light into your life, and gives you a roadmap for moving beyond your present issues.
How do we do this? Read the bible, pray, connect with other Christians. We all walk with God differently and view life through various lenses. Don’t measure your own walk with someone else’s, it is counter-productive.
Jesus called John and James the sons of thunder (boanerges in Greek) because they had firey temprements. Something happened to John though, he hung around Jesus so much that the light shone in and mellowed him to the point that he became known as the disciple Jesus loved. What changed? Not his circumstances, but the fact that he let the light in to change his perspective.
We were left with two questions to answer:
1. How can I invite God in, and trust him, and invite him into?
2. If you added the light of Jesus into your life, what would the new headline be?