John 16:33 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.” A lot of people know this verse. It’s a very powerful verse. As I read this verse again recently, I began to think about the wording of this verse. He says, “in the world, you will have tribulation, but take heart. I have overcome the world.” I asked myself, “Why did he not say, I have overcome tribulation? He’s talking about the fact that we will have trouble. So why did He not say, I have overcome trouble?” No, he said, I have overcome the world. So that brings the next question: what is the world? The world is this realm that the enemy, satan, lives in. This spiritual oppression, the spiritual warfare, all of the evil that the enemy is doing. That’s the world. Jesus didn’t say, I overcame trouble. He said “I overcame the world.” Trouble is what we’re experiencing, but Jesus was more focused on the world. The spiritual realm.
Then it really hit me. As human beings, we feel like we have this place all figured out here on Earth. We have all these laws, rules and specific ways that we’re supposed to things. Then I thought, we are not original. The traffic laws, all the laws that are out there, none of this is original. None of this stuff that we’re doing here on Earth is original. Everything we are doing here on earth, God is using as a picture to show us about our relationship with Him.
God uses parallels everywhere and sometimes we miss it. When someone is born physically, when a baby is born, what do we do? We take care of it. We nourish it. We raise the child. Because they’re born. When we’re born again spiritually, we’re also growing spiritually. Kids are immature when they’re little, right? Would I let my 3 year old drive a car? No. My kids want to drive the car. They talk about it. Do I let them? No, because they’re not mature enough to do it. So, when we ask God for something and He hasn’t given it to us yet, maybe we’re not mature enough to handle it. When kids are little, we guide them here, we guide them there, and the more they grow up, the more they grow, the more we trust them with. The more they can do on their own, the more mature they get. So the more we grow in Christ, the more mature we become in Him. The more He trusts us with, the more He gives us, the more assignments He gives us, the deeper He takes us when we’re pursuing Him. He says, “seek Me, and will, you will find me.” (Jeremiah 29:13). When we seek Jesus, He will be there. Why is it that we abide by man’s law, but not God’s? Why do we let the government tell us how fast we can go on the road, but then when God tells us to slow down, we don’t want to listen? We are not original. Everything that we do here on Earth, all the rules that state what we can and can and can’t do, the rules to make us stay in our lane… The idea of guidance has always come from God. Do you ever see people driving in the grass? (Probably in Florida), but you’re not supposed to, right? That would stick out to us. We would say “that’s wrong.” Why? Because someone paved a road for us. God paved a road for us. Why don’t we want to stay on it? He painted the lines and everything. He gave us His word to distinguish where we’re supposed to go. He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us and give us the steps we’re supposed to take. He already pave the road. Everything that we have here on Earth is such a parallel to Heaven, and what the Lord is trying to speak to us and our relationship with Him. Why do we live in a house? Because that is our personal space. When we say “fill this house,” when we pray over our house, we’re not only praying over a physical house. We’re praying about our personal bubble, our spiritual personal bubble, our family, the people that are closest to us. God gives us of these examples because He knew that it wouldn’t make sense unless He gave us the parallels. He is so divine and so just majestic and so powerful. His thoughts are so much higher than ours. He knew that we wouldn’t get it unless He gave us a parallel. I can’t walk out of my house completely naked. Why? Well, first, it would be embarrassing, but it’s also illegal to do that. Why do I let the government tell me that I have to get dressed to go out of my house? But then when God tells me to dress in a full armor God every day, somehow I forget. We would never get it unless the Lord gave us a picture.
Why does scripture say be intimate with one person only? Because it matters who you’re vulnerable with. We can’t be vulnerable with everyone. Scripture says:
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
1 Peter 5:8 ESV
We can be vulnerable with Jesus, but we must prepare for battle when we face our enemy. We can’t walk up to the enemy vulnerable. We have to be fully dressed in the full armor of God if we plan take out the enemy with the power of Jesus Christ. We have to be fully dressed, spiritually. Everywhere we look, there’s a parallel to what God is trying to teach us. Every single day we wake up has a purpose. Every encounter we have has meaning. Take the driver’s seat in our car as an example. It is a perfect example of driving on the path that the Lord has given us. Going back to John 16:33, “He has overcome the world.” When I am in the middle of praying with my kids and they are not being quiet, so I can pray. I am more focused on my kids being quiet than listening to what the Spirit is trying to saying to me. God said to me this morning, “The spiritual chaos is even more real than a physical.” So my kids were never the problem. The fact that they weren’t being quiet during prayer time was never the problem. The Lord was trying to teach me a parallel. To listen to Him in the midst of spiritual chaos, to listen to Him in the middle of a spiritual warfare. He was teaching me to listen to Him and discern His voice. He says,
“I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me diligently find Me.”
Proverbs 8:17 ESV
He wants us to diligently seek Him in the midst of spiritual chaos. Because that is what satan is trying to do, cause chaos, and that is the world. So God didn’t say, I overcame trouble or I overcame your kids being loud. He said, “I have overcome the world.” So I need to know that in the middle of satan trying to distract me on the inside, that I can still pursue God and walk in the path that He asks me to walk. I can still pray when my kids are acting crazy. Because the battle was never the kids, it was always within me. It’s the way I perceive the battle. Ephesians 6:12 says:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” ESV
Do I think that God is enough to work even when kids are screaming, acting crazy while I’m praying with them? The battle is always within. If the enemy can get us distracted just enough, he can distract us from the message God wants us to hear. Let us spot the enemy for who he is. Let us fight the spiritual battle, not the physical one. Jesus didn’t say, I overcame tribulation and trouble, because to me, the trouble was my kids. I just need my kids to be quiet. No, He said, I overcame the world, because the world is what’s attacking my spiritual being.
Everything we do in this life is so parallel to what God wants to teach us. So ask God to show you a parallel today. He will. Say “Lord, show me something in my life today that is actually a picture of what You’re doing and what You want to teach me.” He will. Everything we do, on this earth, is God trying to teach us something about Him in our relationship with Him. Ask Him to show you who He is. He’ll do it.
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