Do not let your hearts be troubled.
John 14:1
How do you respond to discouragement? To bad news? To adversity?
Within the thirteenth chapter of John’s Gospel, we have record of the disciples receiving news that was very discouraging. In John 13:33, Jesus told his immediate followers, “I will be with you just a little longer.” In John 13:36, Jesus said, “where I am going you cannot come right now.” And, earlier in John 13:21, Jesus announced to his disciples, “one of you will betray me.” Such news must have weighed heavy on the disciples, for in the opening of chapter fourteen, our Lord immediately encouraged them not to be troubled in heart. He then told them how to avoid such discouragement: “believe in God, believe in Me.”
Jesus knew that many negative experiences awaited the disciples that would trouble them, challenge their faith, and tempt them toward a position of disbelief. And, as the disciples looked back to Jesus’ announcement of His departure and forward to what they felt was an unknown future, Jesus comforted them with, “do not be troubled.”
The term for “troubled” expresses setting in motion an inner agitation (of the soul). Much as the life described in Proverbs 12:25, such trouble can be like “anxiety that weighs the heart or soul down.” And, we must guard against anything that would attempt to agitate our hearts and set in motion doubt, worry, or anxiety. As the disciples were troubled, Jesus encouraged them to a stronger position of the soul with, “do not let your hearts be troubled; instead, believe in God, believe also in Me.” Belief in God represented the disciple’s faith heritage, and thus they were held accountable to believe in the God they knew. Belief in Jesus referenced their relationship with the Messiah that made their faith very real, personal, and fulfilled.
We have all we need to overcome worry and doubt. We as followers of Jesus receive the same exhortation as His original disciples: let not your heart be troubled but believe. We are called to believe in God from our point of trouble, and by this we are told to believe in Jesus. Our relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Lord should be enough to cause us to cease our worry and doubt, and to avoid the troubled heart as we place our complete confidence in Jesus. Corrie Ten Boom (1892-1983), a pillar of Christian faith and a survivor of the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp during World War II, commented, “never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” Today, do not let your heart be troubled.
The preparation of the soul against an uncertain future is to keep the heart from falling into worry and discouragement. And, this can only be accomplished through our genuine belief in Jesus. Belief never conveys a simple intellectual assent, but rather a faith that takes action toward the object of faith. We rest in Jesus instead of allowing our hearts to worry because of actively seeking Jesus by faith every day. Our belief becomes reality as we resolve to rest in Him. And in doing so, we more ardently resist the influence of uncertainties that can agitate our soul.
So today, the steps that lead away from a troubled heart and unto a restful heart are very simple: (1) do not allow any influence to set your heart toward worry and doubt, and (2) rest in Jesus through your active faith in Him (as Jesus said, “Believe in God, believe in Me”).
I love the words of William Barclay:
“If we believe that in Jesus we see the picture of God, in the face of that amazing love, it becomes not easy, but at least possible to accept even what we cannot understand, and in the storms of life to retain a faith that is serene.”[1]
Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe! And have hope!
Blessings.
READ
Read John 14:1-6.
[1] William Barlcay, The Gospel of John, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1975), 153.
