Do not Let your Hearts be Troubled

John 14:1 (NIV)
1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

It's up to us to control our heart. It's God's power that makes that possible, but we have to make the choice and draw on God's ability. How do we do that? This verse goes on to say, "believe in God..." Faith is how we conquer our emotions.

Jesus made these statements to His disciples the night before His crucifixion. Even in circumstances like they would experience, Jesus was telling them not to let their hearts be troubled. That's amazing. And that reveals the authority we have over our emotions. The Lord would have been unjust to command His disciples to do something they were powerless to do. Therefore, we can control our emotions regardless of how things are going.

The fact that Jesus mentions controlling our emotions first in this list of all the things we should do is also significant. If we let our emotions run away with us, then it's nearly impossible to reign them in. It's easier to hold them at bay than it is to stop them once we have let them go. Harnessing our emotions is the first thing to do in a crisis situation. Most battles are won or lost in the first few moments according to the way we allow our emotions to go.

The understood subject of this sentence is "you." "You" let not your heart be troubled. You are the one who has control of your heart. Other people and circumstances cannot trouble you unless you allow them to divert your attention from the Lord and His Word (Isa 26:3, Joh 14:27).

Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)
3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

John 14:27 (NIV)
27 Peace 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.

Jesus had just told the disciples not to let their hearts be troubled, and here He told them how to do it. Believe! Faith in God is the victory that overcomes the world and all its troubles (1Jo 5:4).

1 John 5:4 (NIV)
4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

The disciples believed in Jesus enough to be totally devastated when He died but not enough to believe His prophecies concerning His resurrection (Mt 16:21).

Matthew 16:21 (NIV)
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Jesus made it very clear in this same teaching (Joh 16:1) that He was saying these things so that His disciples would not be offended, but His words didn't profit them, because they didn't mix them with faith (Heb 4:2).

John 16:1 (NIV)
1 "All this I have told you so that you will not go astray.

Hebrews 4:2 (NIV)
2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.

They had enough faith to be dissatisfied with failure but not enough to have victory. It's better to go all the way in believing God than just part way.

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