It seems that every year as Hollywood looks for another story to tell, they find a summer blockbuster that narrates the cataclysmic destruction of the world. Perhaps the writers take their plotlines from these words of scripture: natural disasters, political persecutions, famine, and epidemics are voiced by Jesus himself as threats to the lives of his listeners. But Jesus speaks to their fears through a bigger and more powerful story than the most vicious peril.
Jesus doesn’t speak magic words that remove the people from their circumstances. In fact, he tells them not to prepare words in advance if they get taken before a court and put on trial for their faith. Jesus’ words of encouragement help them realize that the absence of difficulty is not the mark of faithfulness. Difficulties are guaranteed. And the difficulties don’t mean that they are experiencing punishment. As they await deliverance from their present (and future) problems, Jesus admonishes them to receive what they encounter with a posture of openness to being rescued by God’s hand. He even goes so far as to say that not a hair on their head will be lost.
What a bold statement! We know that people have and will lose their lives due to persecution, disease, and other disasters. His words suggest that we hold fast to gain our lives, which reorients our perspective so that we can remember the deeper reality of life spent with God both now and in eternity. May we hold fast, living our earthly lives shaped by that hope; for it is in doing so that we truly learn to live. That story carries a better plotline than any Hollywood blockbuster!