John 14:1 “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me.”
A troubled heart is fixated on the problem but a calm heart is focused on the Almighty God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. A troubled heart is absorbed in the trouble but the tranquility of the heart makes a man tenacious.
Jesus gave an antidote to the troubled heart – “believe in God, believe also in me.” A troubled heart has theoretical knowledge of God but lacks practical application of the truth. A troubled heart can write a thesis on ‘faith’ but does not know how to exchange the currency of faith and convert it into trust. Faith is the currency of heaven. Faith in our heart will remain as book knowledge if we do not exercise our faith and believe that the Lord who opened the Red Sea for Moses will do it again for you and me. The Lord God who made the iron float and rained manna from heaven day after day is our Provider and our source even today. When the faith in our heart is converted as ‘belief’ and solidifies as ‘trust’. Trust turns a disturbed heart into a serene heart.
‘Entertaining qualm’, ‘perplexing questions’ and ‘quivering with fear’ is a blatant disobedience to the simple command of Jesus – “Let not your hearts be troubled”.
Three steps to calm your troubled heart:
1. Recess: When our heart is troubled by challenges and unforeseen surprises, take a break. Move away from the crowd and the chaos into a recess to rest the tumultuous heart. Stop talking about the disappointment and stop lamenting about the difficulty. Take your eyes away from the problem and look to the promises of God. Take a recess break.
2. Refresh: Focus on God’s might, power and His promises and refresh your thought process. The veracity of the issue does not alter the validity of God’s Word. Refresh your memory on the past victories and fulfilled promises and reiterate your trust and reinforce your belief system. Refresh your mind with God’s Word.
3. Rest: Sabbath rest is not sitting on our gluteus maximus doing nothing! Rest is resting our troubled mind and trusting on God’s faithfulness. Resting will make our troubled hearts tenacious and resolute. Rest until there is no turbulence; rest until you feel the divine tranquility.
A troubled heart will make us treacherous and tumultuous. Put the troubled, worried, anxious and distressed heart to rest by refreshing and resting on the Lord. Exchange the currency of faith to purchase peace, joy and trust.
John 16:22 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Prayer: Sovereign Lord, living in distress is a sin. Teach my troubled heart to take a recess, refresh on your promises and rest of our unfailing love. Amen
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