We have come to the end of another year. Every year has its challenges and its victories.

Just consider what you and others around you have experienced in 2018. There have been weddings and the birth of babies. There have been divorces and funerals to attend.

Someone has just learned that they are expecting a baby. Someone else has suffered a miscarriage. One of you got a job promotion with an increase in pay. Another was laid off when the company downsized. Someone recently was diagnosed with cancer, while someone else is now in remission.

And all along this one truth rings certain. Jesus is Lord!

That short phrase was the first church confession. For the first-century believer to make this declaration could be viewed as treason. After all, Caesar was lord (notice the small l) and he did not like to share his authority with another.

But this remains our declaration today. Jesus is Lord. And because he is Lord, we can face any and all that the world throws in our direction. Nothing can defeat you if you belong to Jesus because Jesus is Lord.

I once heard it said, and have repeated it several times since then, that there are three kinds of people in the world. Some are in the midst of a storm. Some have just come out of a storm. And some, even if they do not yet see it, are about to enter a storm.

 In other words, storms in life are normal. They are to be expected.

But the good news that Jesus is Lord reminds us that no storm can defeat us. A storm may take your home away. A storm could take a loved one. A storm can radically alter your life.

But a storm cannot defeat you because Jesus is Lord, even of the storm. And that good news can sustain you in the midst of the storm.

I am not a fan of the teaching that life will be easy for the believer in Jesus, because I know it is not true. The Bible makes that clear. Experience drives the point home. Every follower of Jesus will face storms. But the good news is still the same.

Jesus is Lord. And because of that we will be victorious. We may not have the victory in this world. But we will win the victory, because our Lord has already defeated death and the grave.

Jesus is Lord. With that news you can face anything. Never forget. Jesus is Lord. And that is enough.