Do Not Be Troubled

A troubled mind is one that suffers from continual discontentment. It is pressed down, disturbed, restless, fretting about the future and the past as well as present circumstances.

Apparently, many lovers of Jesus are just as troubled in mind as the masses of unbelievers. I see evidence of this in some of the letters our ministry receives. Scores of believers lie awake at night, troubled and distressed. They go to church, hoping to experience some kind of release from their burdens; but once they leave the service, their troubles return.

Jesus warned that in the last days people’s hearts would be troubled by all the crises taking place in the world. “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26, NKJV).

Jesus said the events coming upon the world would be so frightening that people would drop dead from heart failure.

Years ago, I received a letter from a preacher in his nineties. He recalled the immorality of the 1920’s that brought judgment on America through the Great Depression. He had witnessed two world wars. He had seen transportation change from horse-drawn carriages to space shuttles and communication change from crackling radios to the internet. In short, he’d seen it all. He wrote that the wickedness taking place in our nation today grieved him more than any he had ever witnessed. He could hardly take it all in because it was happening so fast, and the depths of depravity were beyond comprehension.

In spite of everything we see taking place, Jesus gives us a word of reassurance. “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet….But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:6,13-14). In our troubled times, cling to Christ’s words! His promises will never fail.