“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” (Mt 24:6 AV)
This has been a common theme as of late. The world is spiraling ever downward. And faster than it ever has before. It is headed for some very hard times. The headlines of yesterday’s news threaten another world war. Israel is on the brink of an all out war with her enemies. The financial markets are not all that much better. Almost every week, there is some kind of health scare. There are entire states that are going through a quasi-lockdown over a rare mosquito born ailment that has a fatality rate so low, it is incomprehensible. Add to all this out-of-control crime, child mistreatment, and families who cannot afford to feed their children, and one can begin to think there is no hope. But we know better. We know the end of this chapter. God will not remain silent much longer. He will only let so much go on before He acts dramatically and quickly. What we want to hone in on are the underlined words above. More specifically, the responsibility of personal peace. Jesus tells His followers it is their responsibility to see to it they are not troubled. This would make complete sense.
I have been on a boat a time or two where disembarking was a challenge. The waves tossed the boat up and down. There were times when the dock was closer. Other times, not so much. There I was. We were done fishing for the day. A storm or strong wind had come up, and we needed to trailer the boat. My job was to be the first one off and tie the boat off while my pilot disembarked, got the truck, and backed the trailer to the boat. I was always the first one off. Most of the time, it was not a problem. There were times that it was. The waves of winds threw the small craft around. Many times, the boat’s movements were not particularly predictable. Sometimes the distance was more than I could reach or jump. Timing was everything. The thing was, as long as I stayed on that boat, the more I was thrown around by the wind or weather. The only stable structure was the dock. The dock was set in concrete. It didn’t matter how bad the weather or waves were; it wasn’t moving. The dock could sit there all day and night, offering me a stable platform, but until I took the risk, my heart was troubled. The dock could not force me to trust it. It could not reach out and grab me. The dock was there, always would be there, and had never let me down before. All I had to do was to do my part in taking responsibility for my own welfare. I needed to trust the dock.
This is how God and His truth work. He cannot force us to trust Him. If we are troubled, we are so because we lack trust. We simply cannot take the risk of trusting God and His truth. If He made promises, He intends to keep them. As faithful as God is, He cannot force us to trust. This is something we must choose to do. Thus, we arrive at the responsibility of a peaceful heart. If we are troubled, we have not accepted the responsibility that is our to trust in the person of God and His unfailing word. This is why Jesus tells His disciples to see to it that their heart is not troubled. We are too used to being coddled to the point we do not trust. That does us no good. How can we build our faith without bringing that faith to the stress point? Just like jumping from a bobbing boat, there has to come a time when I trust the distance, the dock, and what I had learned before. If I sit on that boat, I will be tossed to and fro until I am willing to take responsibility for trusting what does not change. God puts trouble in our court. Do we want to live without anxiety? Then take responsibility. Do we want to live without fear? Then take responsibility. Do we want to live in peace? Then take responsibility! See to it that your heart is not troubled! God has promised. Now, trust!
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