John 14, in my red-letter Bible, is almost entirely the words of Jesus. The theme of verses 1-14 is that Jesus is the way to the Father; then of 15-31 is the promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus teaches the themes of love, trust, peace and faith throughout the chapter to the disciples whose minds are stretching to understand these new concepts. For example, in verse 8 Philip said, “Master, show us the Father, then we’ll be content.” Jesus replies gently, “…To see me is to see the Father.” (verses 9-10) Did Philip ever become “content” that he could enter into this love, trust, peace and faith? Do I? Or do I ask for “one more thing” to be shown to me and “then I’ll be content”.
Do I really believe that the presence of God in my life is enough for me? In 2 Cor. 9:8, it says “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:…” It seems to me we have a fairly easy time seeing how the Lord has been present in our lives as we look backwards in time and recall how things worked out in the end. More difficult for us, it seems, is having the same faith for our present and future concerns, those that have not been worked out yet. As challenges arise, we question…what is this going to mean to me and my family? What changes will be required of me? Am I up to the challenge?
If we knew the answers to those questions, we would need no faith. In fact, there will come a day when we will know all of the answers to the questions that beset us today. On that day, it will not be possible for us to have faith to believe God, trust in Him, have faith and be in peace for those concerns. Instead, we can only trust God for our present and future concerns. The best news to us this about this is that the Lord is there too because time does not constrain Him. He will never leave us and the promised Holy Spirit even resides within us as we walk through the hills and valleys of this life. As He does, He brings His promised gift of peace…not as the world gives but as only He can. Let us walk, and encourage one another to walk, trusting in the truth that God has good plans for us, that the Comforter lives within us and He really does make His home in us. We are not orphans but beloved children of God. Let’s walk today, not doubting that in the least and experience God’s peace, from which springs joy, from which springs our very strength.