A Reason Not to Fear

People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire. (Job 5:7 NLT)

In the months following September 11, 2001, as many as 400,000 New Yorkers suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. Drug use, both legal and illegal, and alcohol use went up dramatically after that horrific day. It’s because people were afraid. And they had good reason to be.

John 14 tells us of a time when the disciples were afraid. Jesus had dropped a bombshell on them. He said something that turned their world, as they knew it, upside down.

Then He went on to share some words to bring calm to their troubled hearts: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me” (John 14:1 NLT). He didn’t say, “Mull over your problems.” Rather, He said, “Don’t be troubled.”

Life is filled with trouble. It seems as though once you have one problem resolved, three more take its place. As Job 5:7 says, “People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire” (NLT). From the moment we come into this life, there are all kinds of troubles.

While there are reasons to be troubled, there is a greater reason not to be: We know Jesus. He said to His disciples, “Trust in God, and trust also in me” (John 14:1 NLT). In other words, “I haven’t brought you this far to abandon you now. I know what I’m doing. Believe.”

There are times in our lives when things happen that we just don’t understand. When I don’t understand something about God, I try to always fall back on what I do understand: I do understand that God loves me. I do understand that He is looking out for me with my best interests in mind. And I do understand that no matter what happens, He will get me through.

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