You know how it is when you hear a song for the first time? You know, a song that really grabs you? The first time I ever heard “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” I was in seminary. I wasn’t married, so I was living in the men’s dorm. I recall that it was a spring afternoon. Outside, the skies were blue and the day was sunny, but inside, in the deepest part of me, it was like a dreary, overcast day. I felt like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. I was coming home after a day of classes, and I was defeated. I was about as low as you could get. I was behind in my studies. I was a long way from home. And I wasn’t sure I was going to have the money to finish the semester, much less get through seminary.
When I reached the dorm, I was walking toward my room, when I heard music coming from an adjacent hallway. It was Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and, as I said, I had never heard it before. I turned toward the music. It was coming from the room of a student I didn’t know very well. His door was open. So, I asked if he would mind if I stood there and just listened. He said, Sure. So that’s what I did. I just listened. There was something magnetic about the song. I don’t know: Was it the melody? The harmony of the voices, maybe? Was it the serene quality about it? There was definitely a comforting aspect to it. But more than anything, I think, it was the lyrics.
When you’re weary, feelin’ small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all.
I’m on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can’t be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down.
Now, I’ve got to tell you: those words got inside me. I was weary, and I was feeling small – really insignificant. And I wondered: would anyone really lay themselves down for me? Would anyone put themselves out so that I could get myself together?
You know what I’m talking about. You’ve felt these same things. You’ve been worried. You’ve felt insecure. You’ve wondered how you were ever going to make it. You may even be feeling that way now.
If you are, then what Jesus says here in the Bible is just for you. “Let not your hearts be troubled.” That’s what he says, and he’s saying that to you. Now, listen. This is not a command. Jesus isn’t just giving you orders. “You quit being troubled, now; you hear?” That’s not what he’s doing. What he is doing is: he’s comforting you. “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.” In other words, trust me with your troubles.
That’s what he’s saying. And then what he does is: He gives you some reasons that you can trust him. When you’re heart is troubled, he tells you three things you need to know. First, he is going to get you to a safe place. Second, he’s going to stay with you. And, third, he’s going to turn your troubles into triumph.
Let’s look at each of those three promises. First, when you’re troubled, remember: Jesus is going to get you to a safe place. Just look at the first few verses here of John, chapter 14. Jesus uses some form of the word place three times. Three times in three verses: “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” he says. “Believe in God, believe also in me.” That is, “Trust me.” Why? He tells us: “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.” You see: There it is, first instance of the word place. He goes on: “If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” There it is again. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself.”
How important is it, when you’re beset with trouble all around – how important is it to have a place, a safe place, a place of refuge? When I was in my early teens, I was with my mom in a car out on a country road. My mom was driving, and we were trying to find my dad, who was with some friends out in a place we had never been before. We drove for a long time and cut back more than once. My mom stopped at a crossroads and looked in every direction. She didn’t want to tell me, but she was lost. She didn’t know where we were, and I sure didn’t! It was getting dark, and I was getting scared. I remember that my arms and legs began to shake involuntarily. What I wanted most in that moment was to be back at my own house, in my own room, with my own bed, and all the familiar surroundings of home. I wanted to be in a safe place.
And Jesus knows our need to feel safe. Of course, I know what you’re thinking. You’re looking at this passage, and you’re thinking, “Jesus is talking about heaven. He’s saying he’s going to prepare a place for us, yes, but this place is in the Father’s house. This place he’s preparing is in heaven. And, while I want to go to heaven some day, I don’t want to go today. So, how does all this help me with the troubles I’m facing now?
When Jesus spoke these words to his first disciples, they were no different from you. They weren’t thinking of going to heaven that day either. Sure, some day, but not that day. So did his words help them? Well, let’s see.
Jesus said to them, in verse 4, “You know the way to the place where I am going,” and in verse 5 we read that one of the disciples, the one named Thomas, said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” That’s when Jesus said, “I am the way.” Remember? “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
You and I are on the way to a place that Jesus is preparing for us, a safe place, where nothing will harm us or even threaten us. It’s the Father’s house, and we will be at home there. But, in the meantime, while we’re still on the road, Jesus tells us that, though it may be hard going at times, we don’t travel alone. We are on the way, and he is the way. He is with us.
When my mom and I were lost on that country road with darkness descending on us, she could see that I was afraid. And you know what she did? She comforted me. And you know how she did it? She reminded me that I wasn’t alone, that she was with me. And that’s what Jesus is doing here. He’s telling us that he is with us. In fact, we’ll see next week, when we finish out John 14, that Jesus is very careful to make sure we know that he will always be with us.
So, he tells us to trust him because he’s going to get us to a safe place – and, in the meantime, he’s going to stay with us. But there’s one more thing. He’s going to comfort us in our troubles, but then he’s going to do something else, something that you may not expect. He says he’s going to use our troubles to help others. Look at verse 12, where Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these….”
Let me ask you this? What if trouble can double as triumph? That’s what I want you to consider today. What if the tumult you’re going through right now is designed to prepare you to help someone else? Would that make it worth it?
You’re out there. Life’s pushing you around. You may even feel like you’re about to get crushed in the squeeze life is putting on you. But Jesus is going to get you through. He’s going to take you to a safe place, and he is going to stay with you. But, in addition to that, he’s going to mold you into a person like the person he is. “The works that I do,” he says, “you will do; and greater works than these you will do.”
What greater work is there than helping somebody else endure what you’ve endured. What better thing is there than making your trouble double as triumph? And how do you do that? You refuse to waste your sorrows. You take the adversity that you’re coping with right now, and you put in the bank, so to speak. And someday you’re going to draw interest on it. And you’re going to give away what Jesus has given you. You’re going to comfort someone else because you’ve been comforted.
Picture it this way. Your life is a road with twists and turns and grades. Sometimes the path is narrow. Sometimes it’s steep. Sometimes you think you can’t go on. But in your picture, I want you to see that the road goes somewhere. It has a destination. It’s taking you to the Father’s house, where there will be welcome, warmth, plenty, and peace. Now I want you to add one more detail to the picture: You are still on the road, but you are not alone. Jesus is with you. And when you’re weary, he will carry you. And sometimes you will meet other travelers on the road. Sometimes they will help you, but sometimes you will be there to help them…because you know from experience what the road may bring. And every day, you will be able to look behind you, to the stretch of road you have already traveled, and you will see one thing with unparalleled clarity. You will see how trusting Jesus turns trouble into triumph. And you will be comforted.
