April 2020  by Sheologie

Dear Anxious Heart

If God were to write a letter to your anxious, troubled heart today, what would He say? I think I have an idea. In John 14, Jesus spoke to His anxious disciples in the upper room and said, “Let not your heart be troubled” (v. 1). Troubled comes from the Greek word tarassó, which literally means to agitate like rolling water.

Now, not letting your heart be troubled is easier said than done. But can I encourage you to meditate on that commandment of Jesus during this particular season? Let not your heart be troubled. In any crisis, you have to decide whether you’re really going to obey this. It won’t change your circumstances, but it will change you.

And if you keep reading in John 14, you’ll find that Jesus gave four incredible reasons why your heart should not be troubled:

1. He prepared a place for you to go. “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (v. 2). In other words, heaven is a real place. And, girl, you’re going there. Jesus is preparing a personalized space for you in the New Jerusalem. Remember Jesus was a carpenter? You might say He’s a custom builder. And He’s been doing this for 2,000 years. You’re on your way to the homiest home you’ve ever known.
2. He gave a path for you to know. “Where I go you know, and the way you know…. I am the way, the truth, and the life” (vv. 4, 6). This emphatic statement obliterates all other religious ideas of how to get to heaven. You can’t work your way, pray your way, or pay your way to heaven, because Jesus is the only way. If you’re lost, He’s the wayfinder; He’ll help you find your way home.
3. He did great works to make His Father glow. “The Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves” (vv. 10-11). What works did Jesus do? The Bible records close to forty of His miracles, but He did even more than that (see John 21:25), and it was all for the glory of the Father. Don’t you think He can calm your troubled mind?
4. He gave you prayer so you would grow. “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” (vv. 13-14). Now, this doesn’t mean Jesus is a genie in a bottle who will give you whatever you want. I would say that He wants us to ask how we may do greater things, not have greater things (see v. 12). This is timely for the current season we’re in. “Lord, what are You doing during this time, and how can I help in a way that glorifies You?”—that’s the kind of prayer He’s looking for.

So do not let your heart be troubled. God will never abandon His own. Hebrews 13 says that “[God] Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear'” (vv. 5-6). It should calm your heart to know that your Father is the maker of heaven and earth. He counts the hairs on your head (see Luke 12:7). He collects your tears in a bottle (see Psalm 56:8). He loves you with an everlasting, incomprehensible love (see Jeremiah 31:3-4).

Have you ever tried to hug one of your kids, but they just keep trying to wiggle away from you and run off? God is trying to hold you, settle you, and pull you in closer. So relax. Cooperate with Him. Enjoy the nearness of your heavenly Father during this time. And do not let your heart be troubled.