“In this world, you shall have tribulation. Take courage for I have overcome the world.” Jesus—John 16:33
The calendar month of March brings a number of things to mind: “In like a lion—out like a lamb,” or “In like a lamb—out like a lion,” Spring, the hint of new life as we watch plants revive, and in some years, Easter.
For me as a child, March was the month for kites. Now, not every March day is good for kite flying because March can have some very strong winds even to the point of violent winds—the kind of winds that rip up roofs.
How similar to the month of March is our lives. These are seasons of life where the air is balmy. The sun is shining, and everything is going our way. But, there are other life times when nothing is going right. The storms, the winds—are against us. These storms could be financial, a relationship, or spiritual.
We need to consider that each and all of us are going to have life experiences that are good and each and all of us are going to experience stormy weather—negative life experiences. Some sage long ago said, ‘Into each life, some rain must fall.”
As human beings, we don’t need much help accepting the good times of life. But we need tons of help working our way through life’s storms.
God’s word in the K.J.V. has an interesting word to describe life’s storms. The word is tribulation—a word we don’t often hear in 2012 conversation.
There are two times in the New Testament where the word tribulation is used. In Romans 5:3, God’s word says tribulation works patience. A thought process we can use in life’s storms is, God must be doing a “God thing” in my life by sending these tribulations my way. The other time the word tribulation is used is when Jesus said, “In the world you are going to have tribulation. Take courage because I have overcome the world.”
Ruth Caye Jones authorized a hymn called, “In Times Like These” where the chorus states, “Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.” So in the good times of life we have an Anchor (Jesus), and in the life storms we also have an Anchor (Jesus). We can let the wind storm blow. Let it blow because our Anchor (Jesus) is secure. May God bless us together through March 2012 and forever.
Pastor Harold E. Yeager