Troubled Hearts

Trust

Well its mid-afternoon. I just had lunch with a treasured friend of over 25 years. He was sharing some of the incredible burdens he’s been enduring. Not just him; his family too. None of these burdens are the result of any poor decisions, lack of discretion, or failure to be proactive about anything in life. He’s as faithful as they come and I have to add him to the list of those I prayed for just two days ago. He and several other family members are bearing the cup of suffering as we talked about a couple days ago due to nothing more than the imperfections of this broken world we live in.

I want to go to John 14:1. Jesus speaks these words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me.” Easier said than done as we all know. Jesus was referring to a future point in time in the specific instance that we see him speak these words. John 14 is often quoted at funerals because it is a comforting reminder that we can go where Jesus is going. He is going ahead of us to get things ready. We are to not let our hearts be troubled because we are not yet home in our eternal destination.

Is our problem just rooted in the fact that we live too much in the here and now and can’t seem to focus on the then and where? Maybe, at least when we forget about how things will play out into eternity. I can fast forward, jump to the future, and think about eternity. With relative ease as a believer I am able, with victory, to not let my heart be troubled . . . about that. But, there are other things in between that trouble our hearts

I believe it troubles us when we think about the process of concluding things here and stepping into eternity. It is in our nature that when potentially lethal things threaten our earthly existence we are troubled because of the unknowns it presents. We all struggle with the 100% mortality rate when it comes to our earthly bodies. Is it because we become so attached to them that we struggle to stand on and believe in the truth promises about eternal life? Why? Maybe because we know dying is going to take us out of our comfort zones. It troubles our hearts when we think about end of life issues. But Jesus say, “Trust in Me.”

There are everyday situations before we even get to the dying part that can make our hearts troubled too. How will a soldier and his family survive as he returns home missing an arm or leg or both? How will a family survive with both husband and wife out of work? How does person get along with the recent lose of a spouse, a parent at the loss of a child, a child at the loss of a parent? How does a family cope when one of theirs is captivated by addictions? Jesus says, “Trust in Me.”

And ow about when plans unravel? I tend gravitate towards the worrisome thinking if I’m not careful. “Now what?” Then the depression comes from dwelling on it too long followed by the negative attitude it cultivates. When circumstances go against the plans we have made (plans that intentionally were made to glorify God) we must still hear and submit when Jesus says, “Trust in me.” (That’s real hard for some of my friends who feel they need to be in control of every detail of their lives.) When we wait and trust, eventually God reveals the better plan. I have learned this lesson several different times in the last few years. I have seen people I respect go through their own journeys with their version of the unraveling of “the plan.” Often the waiting gets too unbearable and we cry out, “When Lord when?”

I also thought there is something engineered in our hearts to trouble them in another way. Because we are created in God’s image, there are attributes that come from Him that are designed to make our hearts troubled. We are created by a God of righteousness therefore when we see or suffer an injustice it rubs against our moral fiber because we feel the raw emotions of the injustice and it makes our heart troubled. We know when we’ve been robbed, cheated, violated, lied to, or abused. When there is not an quick fix for the injustices it really troubles our hearts

Going along with being created in God’s image and to be in relationship with him, there is another way still that our hearts can be troubled. I know from personal experience, when we have unconfessed sin, the Holy Spirit brings a troubled heart on us because we are not right with God. Guilt can give us a troubled heart Confession and repentance can fix that. At least cause and cure are almost tangible with that kind of troubled heart.

The unfairness of life, sin, circumstances, failed plans, death and dying: they all trouble our hearts but Jesus says, “Trust in Me.” Everything was created through Him as we learn in John chapter one. Everything will also be resolved and made right through Him as well as we read in Revelation 21:5. Each one of us lives out an epic story. Even though we may not like some of the things we go through and even though they may seem unbearable at times, we must trust Jesus because he is the author of the final chapter of each one of our lives. If we are believing in Him we will not be lost or forsaken.

One thing that helps me to trust in Jesus is to remember that we are not just animate beings who, by happen chance, are having a temporary spiritual encounter created by our own minds and limited only to the days we live out on earth. Instead, we must see the big eternal picture and realize that we are created with purpose as permanent spiritual beings having a temporary earthly experience in preparation to spend all eternity with Jesus.

1 Peter 5 :6-7 says, “Humble yourselves under God’s might hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.”

Stay close to Jesus, stay real close!

REG