Acts 14:19-28 / John 14:27-31 (2019)
Would we join a company if at the interview we were told that the work is hard and tough and the hours are long and the salary won't be attractive, but there will be job satisfaction and we will grow in our capabilities?
On the other hand, what we would expect would be job satisfaction and advancement and have career opportunities and benefits, and of course a good pay packet.
If we were to hear that the work is hard and tough and with long hours and with just an average pay, then we would want to hear no more of it.
So we can imagine when Paul and Barnabas told the disciples that "we all have to experience many hardships before we enter the kingdom of heaven".
And what Paul and Barnabas said to the disciples is also being said to us today: We all have to experience many hardships before we enter the kingdom of heaven.
If we hear this and yet we don't feel troubled or even afraid, then maybe we are not taking our faith seriously.
Because if we say we have faith in God and we love God, then we must be prepared to face the difficulties and even persecutions that Paul and Barnabas faced, and indeed they will come.
The devil will sift us like wheat to make us lose our faith in God and to doubt His love for us.
Yet Jesus promises His peace to us, and it is a peace the world cannot give because it can only be given by God.
The world will always create its own chaos and turmoil. What we need to have is God's peace within and to keep it.
That will see us through the troubles and difficulties of this world and also prepare us for the world to come, the world of everlasting peace and joy.