The Place of Perfect Peace

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14: 1-6).

Jesus issued some tough orders to His disciples from time to time. He commanded them to love one another, love their enemies, pursue holiness, and much more. But this command… “Let not your hearts be troubled” may be one of the toughest to obey. It seems as long as we live as imperfect disciples in this inhospitable and hostile world, there is increasing trouble on every side. Our Comforter, the Holy Spirit, assures us that Jesus is aware of the trouble that will come to His New Testament children of promise (see Galatians 4:28) on their journey to their land of promise (see Hebrews 13:14). He amended His command with an exhortation and a promise. He exhorted His disciples to replace doubt with increasing faith in God and to closely follow Him toward deeper intimacy with His Father, where He promised they would enjoy a place personally prepared for them, the place of perfect peace.

What troubles your heart today? What consumes your thoughts? What is draining away your energy and stealing your joy? While it may be very real and overwhelming to you, it is not outside of the attention of God. Your trouble may be caused by the hurtful or neglectful actions of others. It may be the result of words you’ve misspoken or things you’ve done that you long to take back. Your trouble may be the result of misunderstanding, outstanding offenses, the evil motivations of others, or it may be the work of the Adversary himself. Your trouble may simply be the result of trying to live righteously in an unrighteous world. The odds are what’s troubling your heart today is outside of your control, for if you could only do something about it, you would achieve some measure of peace. The disciples were troubled by Jesus’ prediction of His soon departure. He offered comfort for their troubled hearts. He told them of a place of perfect peace and He showed them exactly how to get there.

The first step in replacing trouble with rest in the heart is to “Believe in God”. That is to evaluate the cause and search the scriptures to discover and apply God’s truth to the root of the problem… “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:11-12). The next step is draw closer to Jesus… “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”.

Jesus is the way to victory over anything that might trouble your heart… “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Jesus offers the truth that can set you free from what’s troubling you… “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). Jesus promises the life that is abundant and free from the controlling trouble of the enemy and of this temporal world… “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

In short, Jesus promised a final destination, a place free of trouble and filled with peace. But I also believe He was offering His disciples a mobile, always near place of comfort, rest, and peace during their journey through this temporal life. Just like Moses pointed Old Testament children of promise to the wilderness tabernacle, Jesus points us New Testament children of promise to a place of peace in times of trouble. The best thing about the wilderness tabernacle was the presence and glory of God. In the same way, Jesus promises to meet us and to tabernacle with us when we turn to Him in our times of trouble… “Where I am you may be also”.

As we grow up into Christ we learn to allow trouble to drive us closer to Jesus and…

The Place of Perfect Peace.