The doorway to an untroubled heart.

Someone asked me today "What's your favourite verse in the bible?".  That's an easy question; it's John 14:1, which says "Let not your heart be troubled".  

I have loved this verse for many years now.   It's a great verse, but living out of that place isn't always easy.   I am sure Jesus knew that when he told his disciples.  He was just a few chapters away from being hauled off for his crucifixion. He knew they would face plenty of emotions and trials in the coming days.  

'Troubled' here refers to being agitated, stirred up.  It speaks of having inward commotion; of losing your mental calmness.   Of being disquieted or restless, to of something that brings fear and dread or makes us anxious or distressed (Strong's G5015)

It's easy to see how, when things don't go our way, someone comes against us unfairly or the general messiness of life comes our direction, our peace could be distinctly absent, but that's what makes this verse so precious to me.  

Jesus didn't say "Ok everyone, just try not to let your heart get all stirred up", He said LET NOT.... That means don't allow it!  He implied that the responsibility for LETTING NOT was with us.   Jesus never told us to do anything that was not possible when we factor him into the equation.   

Later in the chapter in verse 27 Jesus tells them again HOW it is possible:
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

I love one of the definitions given for peace in Strong's:
...of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content..

Jesus was telling us we can stop our hearts from being troubled by tuning into the kind of peace He offers. 



The regular definition of 'peace' is "freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility".   While this may be partially true, the difficulty is, that would require our circumstances to come together in such a way to produce peace.  Let's face it how often does that happen?

No, Jesus said the kind of peace he was offering wasn't going to be like that.  His peace doesn't come from everything lining up 'just so'.  It comes from having that complete assurance that you are loved by God; that he is on your side, and that he will never leave you alone.   

There are no promises from God that say everything will go the way we think, but His promise is that we can have perfect peace in the middle of any circumstance if we keep our hearts fixed on him. 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Teabags and Popcorn!

Looking back

See for yourself!