do not let your hearts be troubled

john 13:31-14:4

in my reading today i have realised a very important point which maybe, i have neglected, or been ignorant of.. As a person who is constantly worrying about my salvation, about whether i am making right or wrong decisions in the eyes of the Father… Jesus says ” do not let your hearts be troubled”.

To say that this sentence means not worrying about anything and not being troubled by anything, as many people, preachers or even writers, may be an understatement. More than the material cares, frivolous concerns , Jesus talks about us not worrying about an important thing – our salvation. We shall look at the context…

Before Jesus makes His statement, it is perhaps important to note what happened before it. Jesus was talking about Him leaving them (after His resurrection), jn13:31-34, and after Peter says that he will follow Him to the point of death, Jesus rebukes Peter and says that he will deny Him 3 times.

Immediately after this, Jesus tells them not to be troubled… I believe that He was showing His caring love to firstly, Peter, who was probably unsure and dumbfounded at Jesus’s predictions of his denial. It would be His way of telling him, even though I know you are going to do that, do not be troubled, but continue to trust in God and Himself with regards to the matters of his salvation, and that He has prepared a room for Peter and He assures him that he will go there… He was doing it also as an instruction, perhaps commandment (since our salvation is not by our own will or wisdom, but by God’s grace and mercy and Christ’s justification), that when He departs, amidst the confusion that they may experience for themselves, and the lies and the attacks that Satan will indefinately throw at them to convince them that their faith is void, Jesus reassures them and says,”trust in God, trust in Me also”.

What a wonderful lesson to learn, to know that when obstacles come our way, when sometimes we fail and we wonder if we could get up again, and we’re afraid of where we stand when it comes to the matters of our faith and salvation, the Author and Perfecter of our faith says “do not let your hearts be troubled. trust in God and trust in Me also” , and He continues to renew, regenerate and sanctifying us through the power of His Holy Spirit, right until the day we meet Him face to face.