So, I have had a tumultuous week. A little over a week ago, I learned that my contract with my employer was not being extended. This came as a total shock. At the same time, it is taking us longer to sell our house than we had originally anticipated. This all combined to make me feel like I was under attack.

And maybe I was.

Being a follower of Christ does not make us immune from difficulties in our lives. In fact, sometimes, following Jesus can invite difficulties into our lives.

Jesus warns us about this:

“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.”

Jesus, in John 16:33 (NIV, emphasis added)

So, the world is full of difficulties. But that’s OK. Why? Because Jesus has already overcome the world.

But, you may say, how can you say Jesus has already overcome the world? Look around you–it sure doesn’t seem like it most of the time.

It’s a fair point. Evil is rampant in the world. It’s hard to understand or explain how Jesus has overcome the world when the world is such a mess. The simplest thing I can think of to say about it is that we are caught in between the now and the not yet, between Jesus’s initial arrival (plus His death and resurrection) and His second coming.

But here’s the other thing: no matter how difficult our lives are, Jesus is right there with us. He promised us He would be:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus, in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

What are we to make of this? Jesus tells us that there will be storms in our lives. He doesn’t tell us that He will help us find our way around the storms; He nevery promised we would experience problem-free lives. What He’s saying to us in Matthew is that no matter what happens in our lives, He will help us carry the burden. In fact, if we will but trust Him, He will make our difficulties seem easy and light.

How can that be? When we are battling problems out of our own strength, they can sometimes seem insurmountable. But when we give those problems over to Jesus in complete trust, He gives us His strength to fight the battles. It is not a problem for the God who created the universe and calmed raging storms simply by speaking to deal with the things we fear may overcome us.

I have a very close friend who is in God’s Word on a daily basis. Although he believes that the Bible is inspired by God, he also believes that the book of Job does not belong there. I understand where he’s coming from. I don’t really understand why God would allow Satan to have his way with Job simply to prove how strong his faith is in God. It’s also hard to grapple with the idea of God standing by and doing nothing while Satan does so many terrible things to Job.

On the other hand, I can also see why this book was selected to be part of the Bible. For one thing, even after Job has experienced the tragedy of losing all of his children and all of his wealth in a single day, he has this to say about God:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Job 1:21 (NIV)

In God’s Kingdom, this is the appropriate–albeit entirely unnatural–response, even to terrible loss. I have to admit, when I got the shocking news that I had lost my job, I did not feel like praising God. And yet, I did finally come around to it.

And here’s the thing, both in Job’s story and in my own over this last week (which, of course, pales in comparison to what happened to Job): after clinging tightly to God in the midst of the storm, things worked out OK in the end. For Job, he was able to rebuild his wealth to an even greater level than it had been before tragedy struck. And although I’m guessing he missed his first set of kids terribly, he was able to have 10 additional children. For me, I was able to find a new gig within 1 week, which seems to be almost mariculous to me in today’s climate. Better yet, I was reminded that I need to cling to God every day, regardless of what’s happening around me or within me.

This past week was rough for me, but it has been a great reminder for me to really trust God. And I don’t mean trusting Him like I’ve loaned $5 to Him and I’m not worried because I trust that He’ll pay me back. I mean trusting Him like I’ve fallen off of a skyscraper and I’m not worried because I know that He will catch me in His strong arms. That’s what I mean by really trusting God.

That’s definitely way easier said than done. So, that’s why this was a helpful reminder for me to walk with God every moment of every day, and to lean into His grace.

What a treasure it is to have a God who will walk into the storm with us and help us come out the other side.