Do Not Be Troubled

We do live in troubling times today but Jesus told us in the above verse to not let our hearts be troubled. He says it again in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” He does not want us to live with troubled hearts as we go through these trying times. I know it sounds like an easy thing to say but what does this really mean. I think he wants us to remember Him. He is our source of life and with Him guiding us through the Holy Spirit we can be peaceful even though the world is full of chaos. Remember what he says at the end of the above verse 33, He has overcome the world. It is already done. What is going on now is temporary and part of God’s plan for us. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.” This is individual as well as national. While these evil things are happening in our Israel nations and around the world, He is allowing them to happen to awaken us to who He is and our part in His plan. Yes, we can feel troubled when we see all these horrible things happening in the world and we too will suffer before the Lord returns but we must have courage and know that He is there with us as we go through these uncertain and sometimes scary times.

It was God who made us and he knows us better than we know ourselves. It is because of that we need Him in our lives. There is something missing in us when we don’t know God. When we feel distant from Him is the time we need to speak to God and draw closer to Him through prayer and dwelling in His presence. This is where we find peace, not in this upside-down world we live in today. Look at how quickly our nations have fallen since we abandoned prayer and bible reading in schools, abandoned the Ten Commandments and have lusted after other gods. We then wonder why we are in so much trouble today. People no longer appear to understand the significance of throwing God out of our lives and following the worldly idols of money and power (the gods of today). These are leading us down the path of destruction and God’s judgment upon us. Where do we go from here? We do appear to be in dire straits right now and the leaders of our nations do not seem to know what to do to get us out of the mess we are in. They seem to have their own plan and it does not appear to be helping us at all. The trouble is they don’t know and don’t care that we have a spiritual problem in our nations as we have abandoned God. This cannot be fixed by anything that man can do, it can only be fixed by God and until we turn back to Him things will only continue to get worse. This does not mean though that we are to be troubled in our hearts because Jesus has told us we are to be at peace with Him during these times. Through our prayers and supplications, He hears our cries and knows that we long for Him to return and put things right. Our cries are heard and will be answered at the right time. We must hold fast to our faith and know that the time of these evil ones is short and “our redemption draweth nigh”. We are told to pray for our leaders so we must pray that they will see the destruction of their ways and will repent and turn to God if not, they unfortunately are doomed. Our God is with us, not them!

  Until then Psalm 46 is a good one to memorize, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble….. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.  Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.  He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”(Psa. 46:1,7-11)

Read the whole psalm when you can.