YOU WILL HAVE PROBLEMS

Jesus often teaches in parables and can sometimes be very hard to understand. But then occasionally He swings the other way and just states the very obvious.  Take this statement from John 16:33 for instance: “In this world you will have trouble.”  I mean, obvious ba?  Everybody knows that.  Nobody is exempt from suffering and adversity.  Whether rich or poor.  Whether sinner or saint.  Everyone has problems.  What’s the good news in that?

Although Jesus does not say it like a curse, He does make it sound like a law, a law of nature.  You want to live?  Well, here’s Law of Nature #1:  you will have problems.  Doesn’t sound like good news, does it? Try posting that in your social media account: “Magkakaproblema ka” and let’s see how many followers you attract.  And yet, Jesus, stated it in no uncertain terms.  “You will have trouble.” Actually, modern authors have resounded that message. The famous writer M. Scott Peck’s opening line in The Road Less Traveled is: “Life is difficult.”  Another author I once read said “Life is sometimes painful, and often difficult.”

During a retreat that I once preached, I did a blind survey, telling the participants to close their eyes so they wouldn’t see the responses of the others, while I would ask them certain yes or no questions.  Then I proceeded to enumerate specific problems situations like: “Who among you come from a broken family?”  “Who has financial problems today?”  “Who is suffering from an illness or a physical condition right now?” “Who is unhappy with their boss?”  etc, etc.  After a dozen questions like this, I would end the survey, and conclude the obvious: no one was spared from having one problem or another.  Some would even raise their hands multiple times.

I would even taunt the participants to see if they would agree to swap problems with the person seated next to them.  No volunteers. I drove the point finally by saying, “Today you may be blessed that you are spared from any serious problems or concerns, or that you may have just overcome a major problem.  Thank God for that. But let me tell you the truth: some day, you WILL have problems.”  You see, no matter how smoothly our lives may progress, the last thing that will happen to us is going to be a “problem”: we will die.

Nobody likes hearing that, of course.  It’s bad enough that it is inevitable; it’s almost cruel just being reminded of it.  Yet, here is Jesus saying, “In this world you will have trouble.” Was Jesus being insensitive by belaboring the obvious?  Was Jesus laying a curse on His disciples, foretelling some future state?  What was His point? Where is the good news in that?

DISCERN YOUR OWN ANSWER

I shall let you discern the answer to those questions, by letting you go through a simple bible exercise. This is what I will do. First, let me say that our key verse — “In this world you will have trouble” — is part of the very long discourse of Jesus during His last supper, recorded by the evangelist John in five full chapters from John 13 to 17.  Second, I have selected nine verses from these five chapters, which contains the answer that you want to discern. But the challenge is for you to rearrange these nine verses in such a way that you create a coherent message that would then explain the point of Jesus in that key verse. Get it? It shouldn’t take you more than 5 or 10 minutes, but I pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire you to do this, and that you will gain encouragement from your own discovery.

Here are the key verses listed according to verse reference (from the gospel of John):

• John 14:1     Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.
• 14:2-3  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 
• 14:6     I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
• 14:27   Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
• 15:11   I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
• 15:19   As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. 
• 16:20   Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 
• 16:28   I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.
• 16:33   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.

As you can see, these are familiar verses, but if you read them in the order written above, it doesn’t make for a cohesive message that explains our key verse. The thoughts jump and repeat. And our key verse happens to be the last in the sequence (16:33). So, your task therefore is to re-arrange the sentences in those verses, maybe by putting similar thoughts together, and sequence them into a logical message. Note:

• Some verses (above) are made up of several sentences, so it’s okay to split the verses apart.
• Use only the sentences listed above, and don’t add your own words, but rearrange them in such a way that you can come up with one or two paragraphs that explains our key passage: “In this world you will have trouble.”
• You must begin the whole message with the statement: “In this world you will have trouble.” This should be your lead sentence.
• Do this exercise prayerfully, and give yourself maybe 5 to 10 minutes, and I’m sure you’ll eventually come up with something great.
• To make it easy for you, you can download this Word document which contains the above verses, and you can work on this file directly on your laptop: “An Exercise in Discerned Inspiration“.

The obvious and the not so obvious, combined and reassembled will reveal themselves as the good news. I pray for your enlightenment.

When you’re done, I would really appreciate it if you can share your composition and either email it to me at edmndza@gmail.com, and/or you can post it in the comment box below. God bless you.

Believe in God. Believe also in me. Peace be with you.

Jesus

Once you’re done with your discernment exercise, you may want to check out my own rearrangement of the verses in this link: THE OBVIOUS EXPLAINED. Password is: <<John16:33>> God bless us all.