Have you ever faced a mountain of a problem; something that occupies all of your energy, thoughts and emotion? Something that keeps you up at night, is uncertain, a situation that looks unsurmountable. We’ve all had them in our life at one point or another, perhaps something like: a sick loved one, a big project at work, turmoil within the family.

These things become all we can see, it becomes all we worry about, all we can think about. It becomes the “BIG THING” in our life, the thing we cannot look passed or beyond. These troubles, projects or situations make us feel stuck, these trials or storms soon occupy most of who we are.

Part of the problem is how we are built, we return to those painful situations in our head because we believe the longer we think about a problem is how in part we will fix it, that each problem will be solved with more thought, but then the problem becomes what defines us. It becomes all we think about, as we re-hash it, we continue to struggle and worry about it, all we do is make those problems bigger and bigger, it becomes all that we see.

So, what is the answer here? The solution is to change what we think about, a bigger picture that comes in front of that problem, not that we are getting rid of the problem, but it is no longer the thing that shapes or defines us, we need to hold onto something deeper.

In John 16:16-33 we see Jesus addressing his Disciples just prior to him being betrayed, handed over to Pilate and crucified. Jesus knew the Disciples were about to face a lot of persecution and tribulation once He departed from them. They would face hardship as they lived for Jesus and spread the gospel. Nearly all of them would be martyred…stoned, be-headed, burned alive, stabbed to death or crucified upside down. Jesus knew there would be times that all they could see was the storm ahead of them, but Jesus wanted to give them something else to focus on, to put in front of that problem, one of the final words Jesus said to his disciples was in vs. 33 where he says “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

So, even with us. There will be trouble in this world, there will be tribulation, an hour will come where we face oppression, stress, burdens, pain, walking in the valley, constant pressure upon us, a weight pushing down on us, a pressure from all sides, the “hard times”. However, in those times we can put Jesus in front of that storm, focus on the bigger picture, take peace in Him, for He has already “overcome the world”.

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