Jesus’
heart was troubled because Judas was to betray Him (John 13:21). Evidently hopeless eternities are worth a
troubled heart. Later on that same night
He tells the disciples not to allow their hearts to be troubled and gave them a
reason why not. Read His words from John
14:1-4:
Do not let your hearts be troubled. You
believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so,
would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 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. You
know the way to the place where I am going.
I read these words
with a troubled heart, and I realized Jesus was speaking these words to people
who would all face an untimely and painful death, undoubtedly troubling
experiences. In the huge scope of
spiritual reality these words are amazingly true and even somewhat
understandable. The reason Jesus gave
for not letting your heart be troubled was that He was going ahead of us to
create a heavenly destination where all the pains, sorrows and harsh realities
of this world will no longer be. The
place was a place prepared for us, and the place has a way to get there.
Jesus knew they too
would experience a troubled heart. His
own heart was troubled during the night He spoke these words. Troubled hearts abound in our world. There is no shortage of sources for troubled
hearts in our day. Troubled hearts must
be tolerated here in this world, but there will be no experience of a troubled
heart when we consider our future. In
fact, Paul, who survived numerous days of trouble in this world stated: I consider that our present sufferings are
not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans
8:18).
If you are facing a
troubled heart, the way to release the pressure and anxiety is to consider the
higher spiritual reality. Hebrews tells
us that is how Jesus Himself did it. Hebrews 12:10 tells us: Fixing
our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the
cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The cross was certainly more than
trouble. It required endurance, as the
Hebrew writer points out. How do you get
through troubling, enduring experiences?
You take on the higher spiritual picture of the joy that is set before
us.
Today’s troubles are often easily
dismissed and hardly seem worth the way we let them affect us. Some troubles are deep and penetrating and
become life altering. All troubles can
be turned over to God. He is troubled by
our troubles so much that He asks us to trust Him that there will be an end to
trouble in our future with Him.
Copyright © 2014. Deborah R. Newman teatimeforyoursoul.com All Rights Reserved.
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