“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”John 16:33

The massacres which are happening has millions around the globe asking the same question every human tragedy almost universally evokes: “Why?” Why. It seems there is a built in need for humans to understand the reasons why someone would coldly murder people they, the murderer, don’t even know. People also want to know why this killing wasn’t prevented in the first place. Even God, after witnessing the first murder recorded in Scripture, asked a question of the killer. In Genesis 4, The Lord asked Cain: “What have you done?” In the first verse I quoted, Jesus declared--promised--two things, the first: You WILL have trouble. From the day Adam first sinned, to the world’s first murder, and throughout all of our world’s turbulent history, this statement is proven self-evident. And this is where the world outside of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ gets hung up. Hopeless people see violence, brutality, tribulation, and trouble all around them and find themselves locked in the endless loop of W-H-Y. However, the second declaration in John 16:33 provides the answer, the freedom from endless doubt and worry: “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Such simple yet powerful truths are contained in this tiny snippet of the Bible!