I recently had the chance to babysit one of our grandsons. His dad was out of town, and his mom had an appointment to keep. So, I happily stepped in to watch him for the couple of hours she’d be away.
He and I have a great relationship, and I know he loves and trusts me. But after about an hour, he got teary-eyed and said he missed his dad. I know part of it was just that he was tired and hungry. But I also know that separation anxiety is a real thing. And with his mom’s comforting hug temporarily unavailable, my reassurance that his dad would be home in just a couple of days wasn’t enough. His little heart was troubled.
That word is in the first verse of John 14, and I’ll bet you know what it means without me telling you. It’s not something just kids go through. You’ve experienced it yourself. But for the record, it’s translated from a Greek word meaning to be fearful, distressed, agitated, restless, perplexed, stirred up, or in pain. And I want to suggest that when we feel that way, a similar kind of insecurity is at its root. We become vulnerable to it when our circumstances conspire to make us feel God is distant and his comfort unavailable.
As Jesus continued to prepare the disciples for his crucifixion, resurrection, and return to the Father, he addressed the separation anxiety he knew they could experience when he was no longer physically with them. And he told them exactly what to do whenever their hearts were troubled. He told them to believe.
It’s important to note the Lord used the verb form of the Greek word for faith here. He didn’t use the noun which would have referred to a thing that exists. The belief they possessed wasn’t the antidote for their troubled hearts. The act of believing was. There’s a big difference. Faith is like having a house key on your ring. But it won’t get you inside unless you put it in the lock and give it a turn. Jesus was teaching them that dealing with a troubled heart would require more than having faith. It would require exercising it. And the same is true for us.
Christ-followers have crossed the threshold from doubt into faith. We possess belief. But you’ve already discovered that that faith doesn’t mean we won’t experience spiritual separation anxiety. Trying times that blunt our sense of the Lord’s presence and tempt us to feel alone to face them call for the verb from of our faith.
My grandson knew I wasn’t lying to him about his dad’s return. But in his distress, the faith he has that I would never deceive him proved insufficient to deal with the ache in his heart. He needed to make a choice to actively trust me in that moment. And in the same way, our times of struggle always provide us with the opportunity to exercise the faith we have in the love of Jesus by choosing to believe in him.
Is your heart troubled? Are you fearful, distressed, agitated, restless, perplexed, stirred up, or in pain? Does it feel like you’re somehow on the outside looking in on the Lord’s comforting presence? Put the key in the lock and give it a turn. Make the choice to actively trust your Savior’s love right now.