"Peace I leave with you, The peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27
The first thing we need to notice from this verse of Scripture is that Jesus has left us His peace. Every born-again believer has this peace inside of their born-again Spirit. It is there, although it may not seem like it at times. One of the first steps to enjoying this peace is believing it is there. It is not something we have to ask for since we already possess it. So instead of praying, "Father, give me this peace," we should instead pray, "Father, I thank You that I have peace. Regardless of how I feel, I thank you that I have the very peace of Jesus right now." Continue to believe that you have it, thank the Father for it, and see if that does not make a difference in how you begin to feel.
Nevertheless, my focus is not necessarily on that. I want to focus more on the "let not your heart be troubled" part. Many believers live with troubled hearts. There are many things that we can allow to trouble our hearts. It may be a particular situation in a marriage, with children, or at work. It may be a financial situation, a health situation, or something one hears or sees on the news. The list is long with what it could be. However, the good news is that we do not have to live with troubled hearts. We should not live with troubled hearts. God does not want us to live with troubled hearts.
Someone may ask, "Well, if God does not want us to live with troubled hearts, then why doesn't He do something about it?" Great point, let me point your attention to what the verse says. It says, "Let not...". It does not say that God will "let not." The way the sentence is structured implies that we are the ones who are to "let not..". God does not do it for us. Our spouse cannot do it for us. Our parents cannot do it for us. The Pastor cannot do it for us. We are the ones who must choose to "let not our hearts be troubled."
How can we do this? One practical way to do this is when you sense your heart being troubled, remind yourself to "Let not my heart be troubled!" The sooner you can do this when trouble seeps in, the better off you will be. When a nasty or negative thought threatens to trouble your heart, remind yourself, "Let not my heart be troubled!" You may even have to speak it to yourself audibly and more than once. If so, that is perfectly fine. Do it as many times as needed.
Another thing is that this is not just positive thinking or mind over matter. The world has techniques that can work to a certain extent. But as a believer, you have something better than that. You have a Heavenly Father Who loves you more than you have yet to realize. You have a Savior who has done more for you than the devil will ever do against you. You have the indwelling Spirit inside of you, Who is more significant than he who is in the world. You have the advantage, the resources, and the odds in your favor. You are blessed and highly favored. You have a God Who is with you, in and for you. When you begin to realize who you are, whose you are, and what you have, you can begin to see why you have no reason to let your heart be troubled. God bless!! - Pastor Jason
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