I had just settled down to form play-dough into pizzas, chatting about school with the girls I was babysitting. Reminding the youngest to keep the play-dough out of her mouth, I was surprised in the midst of the light hearted chatter to hear a serious question asked. “Kayla?” said the nine year old, “Are demons real?”
Her brown eyes stared at me, waiting to know the answer. Her face held a tinge of fear. I did my best to explain that, while demons are real, Jesus is stronger. He’s already overcome them, and ultimately, He’s already won the battle. Simply put to a nine year old, while demons are real and do exist, we don’t have to live in fear of them, because Jesus lives in our hearts and He’s bigger than them.
I love how kids ask and face questions that sometimes we’re afraid to even think about. There are so many scary things going on in the world—with the outbreak of Ebola, ISIS, natural disasters, violence, school shootings, terrorism, the list could go on and on—it’s almost easier to ignore the fears in the world and simply live out our lives, pretending as if none of it is going on.
But is that how we’re really supposed to live? Pretending like the world is fine, even when we know of all the pain going on in it? John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
I love how the verse doesn’t sugarcoat it. It doesn’t say that we will all live easy lives. It doesn’t say there won’t be any pain or sorrow. Instead, it comes straight out and says, “In this world you will have trouble.”
But the amazing thing? It doesn’t end there. The world doesn’t end with trouble. That isn’t the end of the story. It ends with Jesus saying, “But take heart! I have overcome the world”. We can’t ignore the pain going on all around us, but we don’t have to live in fear because of it. We can take heart, knowing that He has already overcome the world, and find strength in Him to persevere, to continue to spread His love to the hurting.
Yes, demons are real. But Jesus is stronger. He’s already overcome.
Kayla Joy
