This world will try to break you. Satan is using everything in his power to cripple you and bring you to your knees. But be encouraged! Jesus has overcome the enemy, and the Spirit of the living God resides in you. There is nothing this world or any of the evil in it can do to stop the mission of Jesus from being fulfilled, and you have a vital role to play.
The last command given to us by our Lord was to go and tell everyone about Him (Matthew 28:18-20). At that moment, He commissioned everyone who would believe in Him to be missionaries of His gospel. You don’t have to travel around the world to fulfill this mission. You can be a missionary in your workplace, neighborhood, and even your grocery store.
If you watch or read the news these days, fearfulness, anxiety, and details of every kind of evil will assault you. Social media is, if possible, even worse. Spend too much time ingesting such darkness and I promise you will feel depressed, anxious, and hopeless. You might get angry or resign yourself to living a life that is less than what you once hoped. Again, be encouraged! Turn off the television. Power down your phone. Our hope is in Jesus. Living within every believer is the solution to all the problems of the world. We have hope, and that hope must be shared.
Everything about the world today seems intent on discouraging us. Hope is not an option for most. Instead, politicians and leaders seem intent on breaking the will of the people to serve their agenda. It is into this darkness we must take the light of Jesus. We are His missionaries. We have a mission to spread the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth, and it begins with the few square feet right around us.
Every day, we encounter people who need to hear about the love of Jesus. They are desperate for hope and we have it. I can think of nothing crueler than to keep such hope to ourselves. If we give in to the discouragement being fed into our culture, we will stay silent. We will not accomplish the mission God gives us to do. That is our choice. We have the power within us to reject the lies of Satan and be a light to our sphere of influence. We must be that light.
Our mission is not an easy one. People will ridicule us, discriminate against us, and possibly cast us out as criminals. Through it all, we can be encouraged by knowing Jesus is with us. He will never leave us (Deuteronomy 31:6). In Him, we have the power to overcome the world (John 16:33). Our hope is in Jesus, not in anything of this world (Romans 15:13). We know the end of the story.
God will accomplish His purpose on earth as it is in Heaven. It may be difficult to remember this when the days are so dark, but the truth remains. Hope remains because love remains. Jesus is within you and He will give you what you need to live out His mission. Go and tell everyone you meet to be encouraged because Jesus is the truth and the hope of the world. He is the way and the life (John 14:6). He is the answer. Be encouraged.