Comfort for Troubling Times

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

We must all be honest and admit that we are in very troubling times. I am not speaking of the political situations all across this globe, but am referring to the growing apostasy in the visible church. It seems that for every pocket of genuine believers I run across who are standing on the promises of God and not compromising their faith by buying into pragmatism or mysticism or outright heresy there is another “Christian leader” falling into the ranks of the apostate. Our error is allowing this to drive us to despair and doubt. When we do this we have lost focus. We are looking at the situation rather than keeping our eyes on our saviour. I pray that the following devotional from Martin Luther will encourage you and help you to not allow our enemy to distract you from the truth. – Mike Ratliff

by Martin Luther

1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. John 14:1 (NASB) 

Whenever we feel distressed and anxious, let us trust Christ and strengthen ourselves with his words. We should receive the comfort Christ offers in this passage. It’s as if Christ is saying to us, “What are you doing? Why are you cringing? Are you scared to death? Be encouraged and take heart. All is not lost, even if the devil, the world, or your conscience plagues and terrifies you. You’re not ruined if you don’t feel my presence. Don’t you remember that I told you about this long ago and left these comforting words to strengthen and preserve you?”

From these and other words of Christ, we should begin to know the Lord Christ in the right way. We should develop a more loving confidence in him. And we should pay more attention to his words than to anything that may come before our eyes, ears, and senses. For if we are Christians and stay close to him, we know that he speaks to us. We learn in this passage and elsewhere that he wants to comfort us with his words. Everything he says or does is nothing but friendly and comforting words and actions.

We can be sure of this: a sorrowful, timid, and frightened  heart doesn’t come from Christ. Christ doesn’t frighten hearts or make them depressed. He came to this earth, fulfilled his mission, and ascended into heaven to take away sorrow and fearfulness from our hearts and replace them with cheerful hearts, consciences and minds. That’s why he promises to send the Holy Spirit to his followers after he has left. Whoever can trust in what Christ says in this passage will be in good shape and will have won more than half the battle.

Soli Deo Gloria!