"Troubled Hearts"

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." John 14:1

 

Don't let your heart be troubled-- disquieted, anxious, disturbed, fearful, restless, distressed, agitated. Does this sound like you? Are you anxious? Are you fearful? Are you restless? In the world in which we live it is easy to find ourselves in this state. Daily responsibilities, bad reports, the cares of this life, the state of affairs, tribulation, our job situation, the words and actions of others, can become an instrument to make our hearts troubled. But for the disciple of the Lord Jesus we ought not have a troubled heart. 

 

We tend to excuse our "troubled hearts" with the defense that "I am only human". Yes, we are human, but we are humans who believe in and put our hope and trust in God. We are humans who are in a transformation process of becoming more like Him in this world. We are humans who have been called to take up our cross, deny ourselves, put to death the works of the flesh and reckon ourselves dead to this world and alive to Christ. We are humans who must decrease so that Christ can increase in our lives. 

 

I don't want to sound cruel, hard-hearted or judgmental. We do face very real, very hurtful, very trying, very distressful situations. But we can't constantly give into them. During those times we have to let God arise and be seen in our lives. We have to follow the example of our beloved Savior- who for the joy that was set before Him became obedient unto the death of the cross. We have to follow the examples of the early church who counted it all joy when their faith was tried- even through persecution and tribulation. We have to follow the example of those in Revelations who loved not their lives unto death. 

 

"You believe in God, believe also in Me." Do we "believe" in God? If we do, then we should act like it even in trying times. We should have faith that He will make all things work together for our good. We should be fully persuaded that He is able to keep what we commit to Him. We should be confident that He will supply all our need, He will make a way, He will fight our battles, open prison doors, give us streams in the desert, guide us with His eyes and never leave us nor forsake us. Then we should know that He is watching over us and walking with us. Then we should know that we are still more than conquerors through Jesus no matter what we face. 

 

Yes, we face difficulties, (I am not denying that) and we always will as long as we are in this world. (John 16:33) But the more we give in to the feelings of our humanity and use it as an excuse to have troubled hearts we will never walk in the victory that Christ has given us. We will never experience the abundant life that He desires for us to have. We won't have joy or peace. And we will never walk in a level of faith that is worthy of those who say they "believe in God"-- but we will be defeated instead.

 

Have a great day. Stop defending your humanity and allowing it to be an excuse for a troubled heart. 

 

For further reading:

Matthew 16:24

John 3:30

Hebrews 12:2

James 1:2

Revelation 12:11

 

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

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