When someone loses a job, Jesus says to them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” When someone learns that he, she or someone they love has a serious illness, Jesus says to them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” When someone faces persecution, Jesus says to them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” When someone we love dies, Jesus says to us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Whenever our hearts are troubled in any way, Jesus says to us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” When we are in the midst of pain, sorrow, distress, injustice and grief, etc. it might seem odd that Jesus would say these words to us, but it is precisely those times that He does so. It is when we are in turmoil that we most need to hear those words from Him. He speaks them to us when we are troubled not because He is out of touch with how we feel, but because He is very much in touch with our pain. When He tells us to not let our hearts be troubled, He is letting us know that He understands our pain even more than we do and that He is right there beside us. He is telling us that the pain we feel at any given moment is just that; a moment in which He asks us to embrace with Him. He is with us always. When He says those words to us, he is inviting us, commanding us, enabling us, empowering us to gradually move through and overcome the pain and walk with Him to a place of peace. He is letting us know that when we reach out to His extended hands, we have the power and the grace to bear whatever cross and whatever pain might be in our midst. Whenever we are suffering, we need to allow ourselves to hear Jesus speaking those words to us; we must allow them to become a mantra in our hearts. If we do we will be able to bear the crosses that come our way with the full knowledge that we are not alone and that Jesus is leading us to the house of His Father and our Father so that where Jesus is we also may be.
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