Daily Bible Reading Plans to help you read and understand God’s Word

Scripture Reading: John 16:16-33, Matthew 10:16-42, 2 Timothy 2:8-13

After you finish reading today’s Scriptures, come back and read the essay here to dig deeper into the ways we see this specific promise at work in our day’s reading. Then join your fellow Bible readers in the comments to reflect on and discuss what you’re learning!

When we think about God’s promises, we tend to focus on the blessings: forgiveness, mercy, and abundant life. But Jesus promised us something else as well: “You will have suffering in this world” (Jn 16:33). He knows with certainty the pain His people experience in a sin-filled world, and He experienced it Himself.

For many people, God and suffering are not compatible. If God exists, then shouldn’t suffering end now? How could a good God allow it? While there are a million ways people have tried to answer this question, we also know that the promise of suffering is not the end of the story; it comes with many more promises of His presence (Jn 16:22, 32), His victory (Jn 16:33), and His provision (Jn 16:23–24). We have Christ, the One who conquered the world, as our promised hope in suffering.