LIVING IN A TROUBLED WORLD WITH AN UNTROUBLED HEART

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in Me.”
JOHN 14:1

Whenever you consider everything going on in the world today, it can be troubling.
It can be difficult to understand why some people do the things they do.
Thieves not only rob people but they also shoot them for no apparent reason.
Terrorists are doing barbaric things to people who don’t share their religious beliefs.
The government and politicians in general have been untrustworthy.
Children are being abused and abandoned; many often join gangs as their new family.
Our military is being decimated, which threatens our feelings of security and protection.
Lawmakers and lawsuits are making it difficult for the policemen to do their job;
criminals rights are being elevated ahead of the rights of those who are paid to protect us.
People refuse to assume responsibility for their criminal actions – always blaming someone else.
We could go on and on, but that would just cause us to be even more troubled.

With that as a backdrop, why in the world would Jesus tell us to ‘not let our hearts be troubled’?
We can easily understand what He says, but how can we tranlate His instructions into our lives?
If we can balance the ‘troubles’, with ‘reasons’ not to be troubled, then maybe we can obey Him.
Jesus tells us that it begins with trust – trust in the Father and trust in the Son.
We can interpret ‘trust’ to mean ‘faith’.
I believe Jesus is implying that we should take our eyes off the troubles and focus on His promises.
The less we look at bad things, the less they bother us.
The more we look at good things, the less we notice the bad things.

First of all, we need to remember that we have a faith that Heaven is a real place.
It is not an imaginary place, but it is the dwelling place of God,
along with the angels and all those who have been redeemed.

Next we need to remember that as believers, Heaven is a place prepared for us.
When the Lord prepares anything for us, we know it will be ideal – just the way we like it.
Jesus told us that He was going to prepare a place for us – He is there doing that right now.

Lastly, we need to remember that when everything is ready,
Jesus is returning to take us to our real home – the one prepared especially for each person.

Hopefully when we take our eyes off the ‘troubles’ of this life
and focus on the home the Lord has prepared for us,
we can do a better job of ‘not letting our hearts be troubled’.

We can assume that the troubles of this life will increase,
but through them all, we can have a heart of peace.
Why? Because we know that God and Jesus are real,
Heaven is real, we have an ideal place prepared for us that is real,
and Jesus is coming one day to take us to our Heavenly home.

In order to have a peaceful heart, we have to have a relationship with the Lord.
When we are friends with the Lord, we will focus more on Him and His promises.
We also realize and accept the fact that this world is temporary and will one day be gone.
So the questions are:
What kind of relationship do you have with the Lord?
Do you have a trusting faith in His promises?
How much of the world is active in your life?
Where is your focus – on the world or the Lord’s promises?
Can you live with a peaceful heart in the midst of troubles that surround you?
The answer to the last question is a resounding “Yes” (with the Lord’s help).