Articles
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled
Donnie Bates
“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also on Me” (John 14:1). I really do not know of a more encouraging verse than this one. Jesus Himself tells us to not let our hearts be troubled. About…what? What is the context?
Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure; His return to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, to rule over His eternal kingdom. But look at it from the apostles’ perspective. It is a terrifying feeling to know that a comfortable time or relationship is changing or ending. We know when a loved one who is faithful to God dies, we will see him/her again if we ourselves live a faithful life. Still we don’t like that separation. When a young couple has their first child and prepares to leave the hospital, there can be a feeling of panic that comes with the realization that there is no little button at the side of the bed at home that will bring a nurse when you press it.
That must have been the kind of emotions that the apostles were experiencing when Jesus would talk of going away. Yet, go away He must. They didn’t quite understand the concept that He would still be with them, but He was. And He is! Still with us, that is. Listen to the rest of what Jesus had to say in that context: “In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going” (John 14:2-4).
Those men who were terrified that Jesus was leaving them alone in this world needed to know that He was coming back to get them; He wasn’t leaving them all alone. And when you feel as though He has left you all alone, you need to know that He is away now, preparing a place for you and He is coming back to get you if you belong to Him. And here is what may be the most important part of what He said: “…you know the way where I am going.”
Jesus didn’t leave us in the dark. He told us where He was going and how we could follow Him. He left us an example to follow (1 Peter 2:21-24).
He intended (and intends) for us to follow His example so that we can be with Him in heaven forever. He may not be here in a form where I can cry on His shoulder, hold His hand, or hug His neck, but He is here, nevertheless! He has not gone away and left me alone. And He has told me how to get where He is and that if I will do those things in faith, He will come again and get me to take me home with Him.
We find ourselves right now in an unprecedented time of fear and uncertainty. The whole world seems to have lost its mind. And when it comes to the day-to-day decisions about what is the best thing to do, I don’t have any more answers than anyone else. I find myself, like many others find themselves…pulled in the varied and disparate directions that the “experts” tell us we should be going. Through all this discouragement, here is the encouragement that I find: Jesus is coming back to get me and all of us who are faithfully serving Him, even through times as difficult as this.
