“And (Jesus) said unto them (disciples), Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?”
The context of this verse is Jesus’ appearance to His disciples after his resurrection. Verse 37 tells us: “But they were terrified and afraid, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. ”The tone of verse 38 is that Jesus was aggravated with His disciples because of their fear and their doubts. “And why do thoughts arise in your hearts” is otherwise translated as: “Why do doubts arise in your hearts.” They had been with Jesus three years and heard Him say on several occasions that He would be tried, crucified and that He would rise again. With the evidence that Jesus had given them, He wanted to know why they were troubled. This is a good question for us to ask ourselves if we are troubled. It is certain that all of us are troubled at some time or other, but we need to remember that we do not need to constantly be troubled, or let our troubles make us afraid and doubtful. I want to reveal some reasons why we might be troubled, and what we can do to rise above our troubles. I do not mean to be overly negative here, for I understand that the Christian life is not always lived victoriously, but we need to be aware of things that can keep us from being overrun by our troubles. I think that we sometimes let our troubles get the best of us because we fail to believe, or remember, the promises of God. In John 14:1, Jesus said: “Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.” That was a promise that because of our faith, we do not have to be overcome by our troubles, or wallow in them. The Bible is alive with promises that God will be with us in everything that we go through in life. Jesus took the time to tell His disciples, and through scripture, us, that He would always be with us. He promised in John’s gospel more than one time that He would send the Holy Spirit to lead and guide His followers. Jesus’ last promise to his disciples was that He would send them the Holy Spirit to empower them for witnessing to the world. The promise still holds true today. There might be some reasons that we can convince ourselves that our troubles should constantly overcome us, but biblical promises of God’s love, care and presence with us through all of the things that we face in life is a good reason not to be overcome by our troubles. I think that we sometimes let our troubles get the best of us because we fail to realize the blessings of God. If we believe in Jesus, and if we believe what we read and hear about Jesus, just knowing Him is a blessing. Having Him alive in us through the Holy Spirit, and having Him intercede for us from the right hand of the Father is a blessing. We don’t have to look far for the blessings of God. When we feel that we are not blessed, it is because we are not thinking in faith but in doubt. Like the disciples, we are troubled and doubtful because we have been overcome by some situation. Just being forgiven for our sins is a blessing from God. When we are going through troubles in our lives, we have to remember that everyone has troubles. No human being has smooth sailing every day. No human being wins all of the time, nor do they realize all of their plans and dreams. We are often troubled because we think that we are not blessed anymore. I have seen people blame God because life didn’t go like they wanted it to. They are either not Christians, or they are in a terrible backslidden condition. Our troubles should not cause us to forget the blessings of God. Why are you letting your troubles overcome your victory in Jesus? It might be that you have forgotten the promises and blessings of God. At least think about it. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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