Take Heart

We build our lives on expectation. We understand how the world works, so we expect predictable outcomes.

I pay money for goods; I expect good value. I work for a client; I expect to get paid. If someone I trust makes a promise to me, I rely on their word.

We expect the world to be a certain way. Often our lifestyles depend on debt, which, in turn, depends on regular employment, which relies on a stable economy. And so on.

But right now, we are watching the familiar structures of our lives fall away. It’s unsettling.

We are afraid that someone we love might catch the virus. But even if we come through the crisis unscathed, what will be left of the world we know? Will we still have work? Will we be secure?

We may have to make changes to our way of life. Perhaps we already have.

The world is an uncertain place and the security we build for ourselves is, at best, fragile. Jesus Himself told us to 'expect trouble' (in John 16: 33a).

But He promises other things too:

• He promises us provision in uncertainty:

‘Don’t worry about these things … your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need’ (Matthew 6: 31-33).

• He promises us rest in weariness:

‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11: 28).

• He promises to be present in extremity:

‘Surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age’ (Matthew 28: 20), and ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you’ (Hebrews 13: 5).

• He promises to receive those who come to Him and not reject them:

'Whoever comes to me I will never cast out' (John 6: 37 ESV).

At a time when our world’s foundations are being shaken, whom are we going to trust?

If you are feeling worried right now, or frightened, or alone, that’s understandable. The government is doing its best and the local services are responding selflessly, as they always do. The churches are also here to help.

But our real help – the help we can depend on this world and beyond it – comes from Jesus. He said, ‘take heart, because I have overcome the world’ (John 16: 33b).


Stephen Dailly is leader of the Dove Church in Uttoxeter (dovechurch.org.uk).

Bible verses are taken from:

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

This article first appeared in the Cheadle and Tean Times.