Be of Good Cheer

 

The Gospel of John, Chapter 16, was tremendously meaningful to the disciples because it is part of the last discourse that Jesus Christ had with them before his crucifixion. It was his farewell sermon to his disciples, and it should come as no surprise to us that he wanted to prepare them for what was to come. In John 16:33(NKJV), he told them, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Scanning the chronicles of history from the time of his sacrifice and resurrection until today, there is no doubt of the truth he spoke. Believers are attacked on every hand and the world and its systems are more corrupt than any of us could have ever imagined. Jesus knew they would be, yet he offers us hope and tells us be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world.

To be of good cheer is to take heart and be courageous. It is to be encouraged in the face of difficulty and challenges because of our confidence in the One who holds our tomorrows.  Watching some of the things that are happening around us, many believers are struggling to take heart. We find ourselves becoming cynical, disappointed, and even afraid. People are filled with anxiety because they are very unsure about the future. Nothing seems to be going right in their lives, and they can’t see any solution to their problems. Jesus Christ commands us in John 16:33 to be of good cheer and take heart when we feel overwhelmed and distraught by the burdens of life. He points our attention to the mission that God sent him to the earth to accomplish. He needed nothing from any of us to do the work of God’s Redemption Plan, but in John 16:33, he makes it clear that something from us is required to receive all the benefits of his redemptive work. He requires us to take what he offers. This means that there’s a requirement on our part to be firm in faith and to stand on the authority that he has given us.

There’s an old saying that our eyes cannot see what they can’t see. This oddly worded statement is referring to both our physical and mental sight. The definition of our physical sight is the obvious, it is the vision that comes through our eyes, but mental sight refers to the mind, and the mind is a part of soul. We receive the predominance of information from our immediate environments with our physical eyes. They feed our brains this information. Once that happens, our awareness is expanded to include details of what is going on in our current reality. If our minds or mental sight blocks those details, our eyes can be looking at a thing and still have no awareness of it. We can walk around thinking that we know things that we’re clueless about, or we can have no awareness of what we don’t know. Either way, all of this is because we have refused to see higher than what we think we know.

Faith presses us to see higher than what we think we know. It calls upon us to see God as being far greater and bigger than any troubles or problems we have. We must trust in God’s love to the point that we are convinced of His willingness and ability to bless us, so much so that we’re of good cheer even when everything around us seems to be falling apart. Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Faith is the title deed to the thing we have been praying to attain. It means that we are so certain of the goodness of God and His desire to see us blessed that everything about us conveys our faith. It means that our attitude, conversations, confessions, thoughts and actions are all on board with fully trusting God.

The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 14, gives us the record of Jesus Christ walking on water. The disciples were on a ship in the middle of the sea and Jesus Christ had went away to a mountain for some alone time to pray to Heavenly Father. Matthew 14:24 says that he saw the disciples toiling and frantically rowing against strong winds, and at about 3am in the morning, he came toward them, walking on the water. They were afraid when they first saw him because they thought he was a ghost. Matthew 14:27(NKJV) tells us, "But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

This is the message of Good News that he gives us today. No matter the situation or circumstance, we can be of good cheer because our confidence is anchored in the Lord. He taught the disciples the Word of God, and he continually magnified God’s Word and goodness to them. Everything that he did revealed the reality that our relationship with God must be built on the foundation of faith that Christ revealed. He’s the gateway. Jesus Christ is the door to the Father’s heart, and this is why we can be of good cheer no matter the circumstance. He paid the price from our sins because it was God’s desire to redeem us from death and darkness. This is how much God loves us. His Kingdom gives us power through Christ to overcome our troubles and challenges, and we can be encouraged with confidence and good cheer continually because His Word never fails.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

"Be of Good Cheer", by written for Christian Encouragement and Inspiration© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.