Upon seeing the troubled look in his disciples’ eyes, Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me.”  He doesn’t say to believe in yourself or to think positively about your situation.  He also doesn’t say to believe in something.  He says to believe in him—that is, to trust him.  That is how we are to calm our troubled heart.

Over a hundred and forty years ago, J.C. Ryle wrote that “heart-trouble” is the most common thing in the world.  He also said that no one is exempt from it, and that there is nothing that we can do to avoid it.  The world has changed quite a bit since Ryle penned those words, but his observations remain true as ever.  If anything, this past year has served to confirm them as the pandemic has prompted an upsurge of worry, fear, panic, anxiety, loneliness and other forms of heart-trouble.

So how do we handle heart-trouble?  John 14 provides some answers.  In this chapter, the disciples are confused and anxious because Jesus had just told them a number of unsettling things.  He said that he was going to leave them, that one of them was going to betray him, and that Peter was going to disown him three times.  In fact, all of his disciples were going to desert him.  None of this made sense to them.  It was contrary to all that they knew and believed.  And so, they were troubled by it.  Jesus could see that by looking at them, which is why he says to them, “Let not your hearts be troubled.”  But how do we do that?  How do we not let our hearts be troubled?

Upon seeing the troubled look in his disciples’ eyes, Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God; believe also in me.”  He doesn’t say to believe in yourself or to think positively about your situation.  He also doesn’t say to believe in something.  He says to believe in him—that is, to trust him.  That is how we are to calm our troubled heart.

Imagine for a moment that you have been falsely charged with murder.  Somebody has set you up, and they did a terrific job of it.  You are now on trial, and if you lose, you might receive the death penalty.  To make matters worse, the best prosecutor in the country has taken your case.  Understandably, you are distraught.  Your lawyer, however, is extremely confident.  When he notices that you are white as a ghost, he leans over to you and says, “Don’t worry.  Trust me.  I got this.”

What would happen if you truly believed your lawyer?  How would you feel if you trusted him to win your case?  Surely, you would feel more at ease.  You still might find the whole affair emotionally difficult, but it would not overwhelm you.  The same is true if we trust Jesus.   We need to believe that Jesus has got this when our hearts are troubled.

But trust Jesus to do what?  When the lawyer says, “I got this,” he means, “I will win your case for you.”  When Jesus says, “I got this,” he means at least two things.  First, he will take us home.  Second, he will be with us until we get home.

Trust Jesus to Take You Home

Jesus says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”  In these verses, Jesus uses a common cultural practice to teach us that he will one day take us to our eternal home.  A son in those days didn’t leave the family home when he got married.  Instead, he would build a new addition onto his father’s house.  Once it was ready, his new bride would come to live with him there.  Jesus is saying that he has gone to build a new addition (a room or place) for us at his Father’s house.  When it is ready, he will come back and get us so that we might be where he is.  He will take us to our true and eternal home in the new heavens and new earth.

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