Christianity for Realists

Everyone has different expectations from Christianity, but one thing we should not expect is a problem-free life. It just isn't realistic, and you won't find one verse in the Bible to support that idea. Jesus is blunt when he tells his followers: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33 NIV) Trouble! Now there's an understatement. If you're a Christian and you haven't been ridiculed, discriminated against, insulted or mistreated, you're doing something wrong. Our trouble also includes accidents, illness, job layoffs, broken relationships, financial setbacks, family strife, the deaths of loved ones, and every kind of struggle unbelievers suffer as well. We might ask ourselves? If God loves us, why doesn't he take better care of us? Why doesn't he make Christians immune from all the pains of life? Only God knows the answer to that, but we can find our solution in the last part of Jesus' statement: "I have overcome the world." Many of the world's problems are caused by Satan, who is the father of lies and prince of darkness. Some people might look at Satan as a mythical symbol but Jesus never spoke of Satan as a symbol. Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. He constantly warned his disciples to beware of Satan's traps. As God, Jesus is the supreme realist, and he recognized the existence of Satan. Using us to cause our own problems is Satan's oldest ploy. Eve was the first person to fall for it and the rest of us have been doing it ever since. Self-destruction has to start somewhere, and Satan is often the small voice that assures us our dangerous acts are all right. There's no doubt that sin can be enjoyable. Satan is doing everything he can to make sin socially acceptable in our world. But Jesus said, "I have overcome the world." What did he mean? Sooner or later, every Christian realizes that their own power is nothing compared to God’s. As hard as we try to be good all the time, we just can't make it. But the good news is that if we allow him, Jesus will live His life through us. That means his power to overcome sin and the problems of this world, is ours for the asking. No matter whether our problems are caused by ourselves or by other people or even by circumstances, Jesus is always where we turn. Because Christ has overcome the world, we can overcome it through his strength, not our own.