2 Peter 3:17 ESV

“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.” (italics mine)

It seems that “bad news” is everywhere these days.  Pull up any social media feed, or watch CNN, and an unsettled heart is sure to follow.  Opportunities for fear are endless, are they not?  When we see evil running rampant, we may feel like we have lost our stability in Truth.  We may feel shaken and scared.  My friends, if we’re not careful to guard our hearts and hold fast to what we know (and have) in Jesus, we can be thrown off of balance by the what-if’s and the what-if not’s.

2 Peter 3:18 ESV

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (italics mine)

Biblical knowledge gives us Biblical Truth.  There is power in Truth.  God’s Word is referred to as a “double-edged sword.”  Scripture pierces the darkness like no other.  Say the name Jesus, and “demons tremble.”  Nothing and no one can come against our Savior King.  Try as they may, God cannot be removed from His throne.  When we study His word, we can’t help but grow in our faith.  Spiritual confidence rises up and kicks fear to the curb.

John 16:33 NIV

“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.” (emphasis mine)

I read these words and take a deep breath.  Trial, tribulation, war, sorrow, attack, sickness, death, and so on are a promise on this side of Heaven.  As a result of the fall of man, no one is spared heartache and pain.  There was a time when I thought, as a believer, I was somehow “owed” protection, as if God was in my debt.  Although that is not the case, we do have the promise of His presence, grace, peace and love in the midst of the battle.  He tells us that He is enough.  Do we believe that?

I love Matthew Henry’s commentary on this verse.  He says, “He overcame the evil things of the world by submitting to them; he endured the cross, despising it and the shame of it; and he overcame the good things of it by being wholly dead to them; its honours had no beauty in his eye, its pleasures no charms.  Never was there such a conqueror of the world as Christ was, and we ought to be encouraged by it.”

My friends, we know how the story ends.  No matter what happens, we’ve seen the last page.  Revelation spells it out.  Evil has lost.  Love has won.  May our souls rest in that promise.