No Troubled Heart

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

NO TROUBLED HEART

John 14:1-7

14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."  5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." 

NIV

Why in the world would we ever let our hearts be troubled? Has not Jesus told us not to let, to allow, to permit our hearts to be troubled? If then if we do allow our hearts to be troubled then we are in disobedience to his word, and that would then be considered a sin. Our hearts are under our own control. We can either have a hardened heart, a softened heart, a peaceful heart, or a troubled heart. The Greek word translated as trouble has a direct meaning of agitate or stir up, but also it is used to as to cause one inward commotion, take away calmness of mind, to disquiet, to make restless. We know for certain the world has that exact purpose. The philosophies of this world are central in causing someone to have an inward commotion, to take away any calmness there might be and create a state of restlessness. This always wanting more, or better, is in the core of restlessness. A troubled heart is in direct opposition to trusting God. One cannot trust God and have a troubled heart, it is an either/or condition of our hearts. Why would anyone choose to have a troubled heart over trusting God? We suppose one of the main reasons we would allow our hearts to be troubled is that we think we are the solution to the reason for our hearts being in commotion. We might actually think to worry about any problem we might be having, helps. But it does not help, in fact, he actually causes us harm. Worry or stress has a very adverse effect on our bodies. The medical professionals have listed low energy, headaches, upset stomach, including diarrhea, constipation, and nausea, aches, pain, and tense muscles, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, insomnia, frequent colds, and infections, as well as loss of sexual desire and/or ability as many of the symptoms of stress.  Why would a person do that much harm to themselves when the solution is so simple, trust God. And if we trust God then we would automatically trust Jesus. Again, how do we separate Jesus from God for Jesus is God? In the context it would seem Jesus is referring to the Father as God and himself as the Son. If we trust the Father then we must also trust the Son. If we have seen the Son, and we have, for His word is the way to seeing him, as well as it also gives us sight into the Father. Seeing in this context may not be referring to the sight of our eyes, but rather the seeing within our heart. This is the understanding seeing, such as when we get something for the first time, we say, “Oh, I see”. We have not used our eyes, but our minds, or heart to see. So we see Jesus, and thus we see the Father. We get it, we understand, we comprehend that the path to peace and tranquility is trusting God. This trust is not just about salvation, but it is about our daily lives, our walk through this life, what we do each day. Why worry when God is in control? Why try to steer our own ship, when God is at the helm? What it comes down to is let go and let God. If we try to keep a hold on our life, then a troubled heart with be the result. If we let God have control, if we trust God, then a peaceful heart will follow. We will get to the rest of these words, but for now, this trust issue is enough to ponder on.