Be of good cheer, He has overcome the world

“Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.”

– 2 Corinthians 1:9

You’ve been there.

We all have.

Maybe you’re there right now.

In whatever you’re facing: you can’t see a way out, or you don’t know how this gets better, or you’ve reached the point where it feels as though you can’t go on.

It sets in like a death sentence.

Take heart. This is happening that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises dead.

William MacDonald once wrote: “One Who can raise the dead is the only hope of a man who is doomed to die.”

It is a mercy, what you are facing – as much as it may not feel like it. It is a mercy laden with the hope that only a divine paradox like the crucified and risen Christ can bring.

What you are facing right now is intended to draw you closer and tighter into the arms of the God Who loves you.

In Jesus Christ, all deliverance leads from the foot of the cross where sin was forgiven and death was defeated, to the throne room of Heaven, where the delivered continue on in His victory through eternity. He is the God who raises the dead.

To have a part in Him, confess your sin to HIm, repent of it, and know the truth that He will deliver you from it.

And that deliverance will continue through the trials and sufferings we face now, as well as whatever is still to come.

Each time, a little less of us will remain – and a little more of Him will fill our hearts. A little less trust in ourselves, a little more trust in Him.

Jesus, on the eve of His crucifixion, after telling His disciples what was about to transpire, in John 16:33 He said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

His words are the same to you today. You’re not alone. God has never once left you.

But maybe you have been living your life, or even just this particular season of your life -- having walked away from Him.

The peace you so desire, you’re only going to find it only in returning to Him, and in living for Him.

In the world, you will have trouble. But be of good cheer. He — the Lord of all creation who raises the dead — has overcome the world.

Joey Crandall is the pastor at Calvary Chapel Carson Valley.