Day 9: Jesus Doesn’t Want Your Heart to be Troubled
Read John 14:1-4
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My 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? And 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. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Reflect
Janet was a dear friend and workmate of mine. We experienced a lot of life together including times of prayer, lunches, laughing, strategic planning, co-teaching workshops, going to conferences and having heartfelt conversations about being moms. We had so much in common with obtaining the same degree in college, our careers, our passions and being born less than 48 hours apart from each other.
In a routine mammogram, Janet was diagnosed with a very aggressive breast cancer. She was unable to win the battle. A couple of days before her passing to heaven, another friend and I went over to her house. While she lay there, we sang over her, anointed her with oil, held her, prayed for her and then we all just sat in the silence of sorrowful sadness. The greatest heartbreak for Janet was the pain it was going to cause her children. She feared it would make them mad at God. One of the last things Janet asked of me was that I would pray for her precious children after she passed. I have kept that promise. In the midst of our pain, we talked about seeing each other again in Heaven. Janet began to smile and even chuckled at the great hope of eternal life with a mansion in heaven and seeing everyone she loved reunited there.
Janet could smile and had this great hope of eternal life because she believed the truth of these verses. She believed in Jesus just like this passage says. The Greek word “believe” in verse one is pistĕuō, and can be translated as: have faith; believe; to entrust one’s spiritual well-being. Janet entrusted Jesus with her spiritual well-being, which gave her the ability to embrace the truth and have comfort that there was a place prepared for her in our Heavenly Father’s house. As we talked about heaven, we had tears of sorrow about the end of life in this world and tears of comfort and joy knowing that we’d see each other again.
Any of us who have lost a loved one, knows the agonizing pain in our hearts when someone we love passes. Heaven is going to be an amazing final destination for us, but the pain in getting there is often difficult.
Any of us who have lost a loved one, knows the agonizing pain in our hearts when someone we love passes.
Respond
Maybe as you approach Easter you are facing the death of a loved one, mourning a loved one or even looking at your own transition to eternity. Jesus understands the fear and pain we go through in a season of passing from this life to the next. Read this passage, John 14:1-4, a few times. Be still and meditate on the words that speak to your heart. Do you need your heart to be comforted? If so, invite Jesus in to your pain and to comfort you.