As is often the case, I’ve been reading the passage of Scripture I’m going to preach through during my quiet times throughout the week. As I’ve been reading John 15:18-16:4, I’ve been struck by how clear Christ has been with his disciples. He’s always clear, but here especially he does not hold anything back. He says to them in John 16:2, “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” Jesus is this clear with his disciples so that they remember what he told them (16:4), and so that by remembering what he told them they will not fall away (16:1). In other words, Jesus warns them about the future, so that they may persevere.

There are several comforts that we can draw from this, but in the very least, we can be comforted by this – he knows the future. I have often fretted about the future in the present, but here Jesus displays that he knows the future in the present. So what am I to do, what are we to do, when we are anxious about tomorrow? Remember, request, and rest. Remember that he presently knows the future. Present your requests to God. This is what Paul said in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” And we ought to rest in God’s sovereign care and control of all things for he is near, the Lord is at hand (Philippians 4:5).