John 14:1 ¶ “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
The word “believe” that’s used in this verse is in the Present Tense both times. Present tense in Greek means ‘continual action in the present.’ The way the word “troubled” is also in the Present Tense and the way it is written indicates that Jesus actually said “you are continually letting your heart be troubled, now it is time to stop letting that happen.” It is easy to tell someone to stop worrying, or to stop being troubled about something, but if they could just stop, they wouldn’t be troubled in the first place. You have to give them an alternative to fix their their heart and thoughts on. Jesus told them to stop being continually troubled by believing in Him continually. Jesus had begun to explain to them that He was about to leave them, and He knew they were going to see things over the next few days that would confuse them, and could blow them away, so He was basically saying “Trust Me, no matter what happens, or how it looks, or how it makes you feel. Trust that I know exactly what I’m ,doing, and that it will all turn out for your good, and that the purposes of God are being accomplished.” When the first two disciples of John the Baptist started following Jesus He taught them the foundational principle of being believer; a follower. They basically asked Him where He was staying. In other words, they wanted to know where He was going; where He was headed. He answered them by saying,”Come and see.” Jesus was saying, “just trust me in this without seeing (without understanding) first, and then you’ll find out. It’s only important that you know that I know where I’m going.” In our flesh we want to operate by “See and come,” not “Come and see.” The way to live life without a troubled heart isn’t by trying to be in control; by trying to understand everything; it’s by simply trusting the One who always knows what He’s doing, and where He is going. Just restfully following Him. Sheep don’t always know where they are going, but they know Who they are following, and if He has proven to be a Good Shepherd then they have no fear. They just playfully stay close confident in His leadership.