Read 1 John 5:1–5

If tears were indelible ink instead of clear fluid, all of us would be stained for life. The heartbreaking circumstances. The painful encounters with calamities, the brutal verbal blows we receive from the surgeon. The caustic response of an angry mate. The sudden loss of someone we simply adored. The pain and shame of riding out the consequences of a stupid decision. Such is the groan and grind of life on planet earth.

Common to us all is the certainty of adversity—not “if” trials will come, but “when” trials will come. That’s the dark side of humanity. Yet there is a hope that transcends such sorrow and struggle. Guess where it’s found? One place...really, one Person: Jesus.

Hear Him well:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. (1 John 5:1–5)

Not a reluctant hunch. Not some fairy-tale dream...but an accomplished fact as solid as a stone and twice as sure—overcoming victory claimed by faith!

Sorrows will come. Heartache is soon to follow. Despair may actually set in and linger. But hope comes through faith—and in the confidence that Jesus, God’s Son, has overcome the world. Turn to Him, this moment. Tell Him everything. Really. Everything. He can take it.

Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord...Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.

The full devotional can be purchased at https://www.tyndale.com/p/good-morning-lord-can-we-talk/9781414380681.