“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” John 14:1
Imagine being one of Jesus’ disciples, walking with him, doing ministry with him, empowered and commissioned by him to go out and do ministry. That’s been going on for three years, and now he tells you that he’s leaving. What do you think would be the state of your heart’s condition?
I’m guessing that my heart would be troubled; I’m guessing that your heart would be troubled too. Having told his disciples he was leaving, Jesus tells them in John 14:1, “Let not your hearts be troubled.”
You see, it’s actually an exchange program. Rather than having a troubled heart, you exchange it for a believing heart. Rather than a troubled heart, you would have a heart that believes in God and Jesus and is at peace.
So it seems to me that your heart will either be troubled or believing. We are troubled by the things we are losing, or, we are at peace because of the Someone we trust in.
Today, if you have a troubled heart, I’d ask you to take an inventory of what you fear losing and exchange that trouble for trust; and that exchange happens by focusing on the living presence of Jesus within you.
Bill Clem is the lead pastor at Mars Hill Ballard.
