I can well imagine that one of the first instructive and urgent reminders of the Holy Spirit to the freshly baptized disciples was about the contents of their hearts which was to be peace, a rock-solid assurance in the completeness and permanence of Jesus’ gift to them.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. KJV
Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. NIV
Don’t be troubled or afraid. NLT
Do not let your heart be troubled or fearful. VOICE
Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts – instead be courageous! TPT
Don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught. MSG
You have nothing to fear. Let not your hearts be timid. MIRROR
Above are Jesus’ words in John 14:27 in seven different translations. It seems obvious, no matter how you word it, that he is giving a strong order to us, his beloved 21st Century disciples. Receiving the provision of his very own peace, then, has wiped out any and every legitimate occurrence of a fearful heart. 1 John 4:18 (MIRROR) says: Fear cannot co-exist in this love realm. The perfect love union that we are talking about expels fear. Fear holds to an expectation of crisis and judgment and interprets it as due punishment (a form of karma). It echoes torment and only registers in someone who does not yet realize the completeness of their love union.
Full disclosure: I know all too well the twisted allure of an ‘expectation of crisis and judgment.’ Sometimes my logical(?) brain sends the message that I should, indeed, expend nervous energy in fretting and worrying, what with all the major conflict in the world these days. Not being troubled would indicate I’m unaware of what is happening all around me. (I’ve been accused of living under a rock). Yet, Jesus gives a lovingly stern command that demonstrates his awareness of my tendency to do what he said not to do.
When I give in to the allure of this temptation and embark on a detour through fear fields and the troubled landscape of nightmares, I sense something like quicksand sucking at my feet. The lights go out and eerie bumps in the night become disaster scenarios and suffocating, dead-end tunnels. I eventually wake, sit bolt upright, gasping for breath, grateful to be awake to another Presence, his Light dispelling the gloom, settling my heart, reasserting his Peace.
I suspect that every parent from every generation has had to repeatedly warn their children about touching the hot stove, going too near the fireplace, trying to take a sip from a steaming cup of tea or coffee. And most children, I would guess, have ‘learned the hard way’ as the saying goes, and have the scars to prove it or the vivid memory of the shock and pain. Jesus has given us a heartful of peace and warns us not to replace it with anything else. Here’s to heeding. PD
