Sermon Central
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The Cure For Troubled Hearts
Contributed by David Dewitt on May 4, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: This is a devotional that I wrote for the church newsletter
The Cure for Troubled Hearts
Devotional
John 14:1 – Do not let your hearts be troubled; trust in God, trust also in me.
These simple words of Jesus can bring us a great deal of comfort and peace when life gets hard. I think that we need to get a better understanding of what Jesus is telling the disciples and us when He calls us to this deeper peace.
This was the night of the Last Supper where Jesus had washed the disciple’s feet and shared the Passover meal. It was at this meal that Jesus told His disciples that one of them would betray Him and that he would soon die. Jesus predicted the denial of Peter and the rejection of the rest of the disciples.
To say the least the disciples were shocked because they had different expectations of Jesus. The disciples never truly understood the mission and purpose of Jesus because they had bought into a Jewish tradition that the Christ would be a great political leader and rescue Israel from their enemies.
In less than three hours Jesus had totally demolished the disciples flawed image of who He was and their vain hopes of what He had come to do. Jesus saw the effects of what he was saying and then tells them: Do not let your hearts be troubled.
The Greek word for troubled means to agitate, to disturb or to trouble the mind with fear, terror or doubt. The truth is that day-to-day life could fit into this category because every day can be disturbing and it can be troubling. Jesus was telling the disciples to not be afraid, to not be terrified and to not be in doubt. Jesus was giving to these disciples the cure for troubled hearts. Jesus simply calls us to place our trust in Him
So, what does it mean to trust?
Webster defines trust as a basic dependence on someone or something, Belief that something will happen or someone will act is a prescribed way
Trust is found in our unswerving belief that the God of Heaven will indeed work on our behalf to bring His perfect will for our lives into being. Jesus was calling the disciples to trust God through any and every circumstance of life. He was about to be crucified and they would be scattered. Jesus was telling them to trust even when they did not understand because God was still at work
If I were to ask you individually, most of you would very quickly say that you trust God but there are times when trust is not so simple
Trusting God means we believe in that which we cannot see and sometimes may not understand. Trusting God is literally against our human nature. Trusting God means that we have to admit that we are not in control of our lives
We need to place our trust in something or someone and we do it every day. We trust our cars to get us to our destination. We trust our employers to deliver paychecks. We trust our doctors to heals our illnesses. How much more should we trust God?
So what is the prescription for a troubled heart? Simply place your trust again in Jesus.
Jesus is The Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Jesus is the Son of David, the Son of Man, the Son of God. Jesus is the light of the world, the lion of Judah, the Good shepherd. Jesus is Immanuel – God with us, the Lamb of God, the suffering servant. Jesus is the one who was and is and is to come. He is worthy of your trust!
Jesus is the Living water, the Bread of life, the resurrection and the life, the way the truth and the life Jesus is the Chief cornerstone, the capstone that was rejected and the Great I am. Jesus is Mighty God. He is worthy of your trust!
Jesus is the great prophet, priest and king. Jesus is prince of peace and the wonderful counselor. Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ and the anointed one of God. Jesus is the king of kings and Lord of Lords. He is worthy of your trust!
