There’ll be Days Like This: Three ways to “Take Heart”
Growing up, life didn’t go the way I expected—friendships fell apart, plans unraveled, or disappointment showed up uninvited—and the old adage would arise, “Momma said there’d be days like this.”
This was not a comforting phrase; it felt like a hopeless surrender. I wanted a life where there weren’t days like this—no misunderstandings, no setbacks, no aching disappointments. I wanted smooth roads, not potholes.
But the older I get, the more I realize this is not a pessimistic hopeless statement. It is a statement of reality. And momma wasn’t the only one to claim it.
Jesus did too.
The Days
In John 16:33, Jesus tells His disciples something that feels both sobering and strangely comforting: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Notice what Jesus didn’t say.
He didn’t say, “If you follow me, you’ll avoid hard days.”
He didn’t say, “If your faith is strong enough, life will be smooth.”
He didn’t even say, “Trouble might come.”
He said trouble will come.
None of our works, our tries, our “enoughness” will be able to thwart the “trouble.” It will come.
Days when people misunderstand us.
Days when the weight of grief feels beyond what we can carry.
Days when disappointment or exhaustion feel crushing.
Unlike the old adage, Jesus didn’t stop with the warning though. He followed it with a promise.
“Take heart.”
These two words hold hope beyond measure. They direct us to a Savior that has overcome the world and allows us to know that we can do the same.
Three ways to “Take Heart” in Christ
1) Continually Take Heart
“Take Heart” is a command in the present imperative; it calls for a continual act. In other words, taking heart is not a one and done. It is a way of living. It is way of keeping our eyes on the one who has “overcome this world.”
Furthermore, to continually take heart in Christ in the face of adverse circumstances, we need to rely on the Holy Spirit. When our heart posture is continually bowed at the feet of Jesus, we are less likely to succumb to the world’s crushing efforts to demolish us and/or our testimony.
2) Acknowledge the trouble
Sometimes we may feel that if we acknowledge the trouble, then we deny God’s overcoming of it. That is simply not truth. When we acknowledge the existence of the trouble rather than trying to deny it, we allow God to show us how to take heart.
In fact, Jesus acknowledged the reality of hardship while also declaring the greater reality of His victory. Trouble will find us because we live in a fallen world where the enemy “prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8); but neither he nor the troubles get the final word!
3) Don’t forget: Jesus has overcome the world!
With the words “I have overcome,” Jesus proclaims his triumph even before the crucifixion, empty tomb, and agony of Gethsemane. So certain was he of gaining victory, he declared it before the most painful of “troubles” he would experience.
And Jesus has given us this same power! We can proclaim victory over our troubles even before we experience the end result. This is not because our belief wills away the trouble or because these troubles will be resolved as we wish them to be. Rather, we can proclaim it because we place our faith and hope in him who has overcome the world! Peace and hope can be ours even in the trouble because we are overcomers in Christ.
Final thoughts
We are going to have troublesome days. Bank on that! But do not forget to also rest in knowing that Jesus has proclaimed to and for us that he has overcome those troubles. And we too can be overcomers as we “Trust in the lord with all your (our) heart and lean not on your (our) understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) but lean into the Savior who has overcome all!