“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

While talking with a friend recently, I was reminded of how uniquely we each experience a day, month, or year. This Friday could seem like any regular day or one in which our life changes forever. Some of us even look forward to the closing of a year filled with sorrow, sickness, and sadness while others celebrate favor and success. There is no rhyme or reason to these trials and no guarantees for continued blessings. Our only promise is that we won’t be walking through either alone.

John 16:33 tells us, “In the world you will have tribulation.” Even God’s children are not promised a life of ease, of prosperity, nor of good health. Yet we are never alone in our trouble. Isaiah 43:2 reminds us that when we pass through deep waters, God is with us. Although we don’t always understand God’s purposes in the trials we experience, we can trust His heart because we know Him.

Our God is a God of abundant love and “neither death nor life. . . nor things present nor things to come will ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). His presence is His promise.