Be of good cheer

Rarely has anyone stacked realism and comfort so tightly together. In the world ye shall have tribulation — no hedging, no marketing. Jesus promises His people trouble as plainly as He promises them anything. Whoever told you hard seasons mean you have wandered off the path was contradicting Him directly.

But the sentence does not end there, and neither does the arrangement. Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world. The verb is already past tense — spoken, astonishingly, on the night before the cross, as if the outcome were so certain it could be announced early. The trouble is real; so is the verdict, and the verdict outranks the trouble.

Peace, He says, is located in me — not in the world improving. The world may not improve this week. You can still carry the cheer of someone who has read the last page. Overcome is not a hope. It is a report.