Manifested Love, Pt 9: Comfort

John 14:1-4                            1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going.”

John 14:27                             27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Philippians 4:4-7                   4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Peace comes and goes in our lives—I think everyone experiences this.  Jesus has spoken much about difficult things in Chapter 13.  He has talked about his imminent death, about betrayal by a close friend, and about rejection and denial by an even closer friend.  And then says, “But don’t be troubled by these things.”  But I am troubled by such things; I suspect most people are.  I tend to think the worst option is the one that will happen.  It almost never does; things are never as bad as I think they’re going to be.  But I still think that way.  The other day I had been doing some shopping only to discover that I had left my credit card at the previous stop.  Immediately I began to imagine all the charges that someone had put on my account in the previous 20 minutes all the while knowing that wouldn’t have happened.  Of course the card was recovered, but nonetheless fear had been active for a short time.

In the overall scope of things, loss of a credit card is not life-changing.  True, difficult steps have to be taken but there are protections in place to guard against major loss.  It’s cumbersome but not life-ending to go through the process.  Jesus is talking about far more tangible things when he says, “Do not be troubled.”

Belief in Jesus brings peace

Here’s the thing:  Humans are fragile and frail beings prone to worry and anxiety.  Jesus knew this of course, and he also knew that such thought processes as worry, anxiety, grief, fear, and shame bring about sadness and slow us down.  But more than that, they are a gateway for Satan.  We are limited in our interactions with the world.  We respond to what we see, and since we can’t see Jesus, often our first action is not to go to Him.  During times like these we are vulnerable to Satan’s lies.  He will say, “A truly loving God wouldn’t have let this happen” or “See, God doesn’t really love you.”  But this is precisely what Jesus is saying, “Don’t be worried, I am here.  Come to me with your struggles and I will help you through them.”  

When my wife died, it was from a long-term illness.  I had gotten used to her limitations, but her body was failing her inside.  Then one day she was gone.  The long run-up to her death should have prepared me, but it didn’t.  Grief was still profound and seemingly life-ending.  I didn’t seek peace in Jesus; that just wasn’t on the table.  Jesus kept me on track though; I still went to church, many people prayed for me, and her life-celebration testimonies were profound and uplifting.  Peace was slow in coming but it did return.  It helps to know that when we go through grief, anxiety, or bitterness that there is Someone who is on our side.

There is plenty of space for us

You see, in some ways trouble is a good thing.  A good analogy is the “No speed limit analogy”: if there is no speed limit, we can’t be cited for speeding.  Similarly, if trouble never comes into one’s life one is never encouraged to do better or become stronger.  It is through trouble and struggle that we realize we humans don’t have the necessary skills to bring good into the world; only God does.  Struggle has significant value because it helps drive us to Jesus.  So trouble comes to strengthen us and prepare us for the End of Days.  At that time trouble will turn people to Jesus like never has happened in history.  There will be a billion soul harvest then.  And to assure us this is true, Jesus tells us that he is going to the Father to prepare for that great event and to prepare a place for us in his Father’s house.  He’s not just jumping on a plane to return home!  He is about to be tortured to death so that you and I and everyone who believes will attain eternity with Jesus.

I will come back

And then, to reinforce his love for us, Jesus assures us he will be back.  Those of us who are believers look forward to this happening.  In fact, all of creation groans in anticipation of Jesus’ return (Romans 8:22), and more and more I find myself joining in that chorus of groans as I see the world fall to pieces around us.  Sin is increasing, and worse than that, the taking of responsibility for the consequences of one’s sin is decreasing.  I used to think people were basically good and that things eventually work out in the right way.  I no longer think that way.  Sure, there are bright spots, but the overall flow of events is downhill and toward evil.  Things are in motion now that are unstoppable by humans.  Only through the return of Jesus will the planet turn around, but these will be difficult times as the evil and intransient of the world will resist Him.  The good news though is that Jesus wins in the end.

What about me?

So a person might think that in the face of such a glorious change from darkness to light and evil to good, that there is little an individual can do.  That person would be wrong.

12“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. (Joel 2:12-13)

The Lord hears our prayers.  When times are hard he wants us to turn to him; to cleanse our hearts; mourn for our sin nature, repent and seek His forgiveness.  God doesn’t want us to face trouble or to suffer, but the plain truth is that He is in the business of cleansing evil and sin from the planet.  Out part is to participate in the cleansing of our hearts, mind, and souls, and through that to help others with theirs.  This is the highest calling there is:  To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love others as Jesus first loved us.