“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?” John 14:1-2 When Jesus says, “Let not your hearts be troubled,” He is not saying, “I will make this world a better place for you. It will get better over the centuries.” Or “As you get older, the experience of failure, disappointment, and loss will recede.” This fallen world will always be what it is—a fallen world. With all its blessings and joys, our experience of life in this world is scarred with failure, disappointment, and loss. So, Jesus establishes our hope in another world. Sin, disappointment, and loss are woven into the fabric of this world. Any attempt to suggest that we can live in this world without them is naive at best. Grasping this truth will bring stability to your faith. Some Christians are thrown into confusion when suffering comes. They feel that since they have faith they should somehow be insulated from failure, disappointment, and loss. And when a crisis comes, they lose their moorings. The foundations of their faith are shaken. They lose themselves in questioning how God could allow this to happen. But Jesus is telling us that the world, as it is now, is not the way it will always be. He is preparing a much better place for us. How does it help you to know that this world is not all there is?
