"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:1-2 NASB)
The comforting words of Jesus to His troubled disciples help me with a view of my Master. He didn't tell them they wouldn't go through the next 72 hours without problems or sadness. He didn't tell them that it was really enjoyable, they just weren't seeing it right. Jesus Himself wasn't looking forward to it. Instead, Jesus seeks to give them perspective. I need that; desperately.
It's really easy for me to get caught up in the moment and the circumstances around me. My bank account and bills not working out like I want haunt me. The things I think are good that I want to do, my Master doesn't enable me to do. I see people around me I care for suffering or under stress that I am powerless to do anything to fix. And what I need in these times is perspective.
I attend a church called Journey Community. Often in this culture it's popular to focus on life as a "journey" and try and ignore the "destination". "It's not the hill, it's the climb" or other cliche is used to downplay the destination in favor of the journey. Perhaps the cliche "the ends justify the means" has been abused to the point that the pendulum has swung absurdly far in the other direction. But a journey has to have a destination to make sense. Journey Community sees this, or tries to; but it's often difficult.
So where is my destination? Jesus encourages His disciples with , "in My Father's house are many dwelling places," and I like that perspective. In the Greek, the word for "dwelling place" is rather rare in Scripture, only being used in this chapter of John, and only twice. It is a more "generic" term for a place to live than "house". It's as if it could refer to any place used to live, but I like to think of it as the difference between a "house" and a "home". Almost any thing can be a home with the right elements; a house isn't necessarily one of those required elements.
"In My Father's house are many dwelling places," means that I am headed home. I'm not there yet, but I am headed that way. This passage also includes Jesus telling His disciples that they know the way there already. They're confused by this, but He clarifies to say, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." So, the way has been laid out before me. Jesus is the "Bread of Life" sustaining me on the journey home. He is the Light that illuminates where I walk on the journey home. He is the Door through Whom I pass to get on the journey home. And He is the Way, the True Way I follow, and the Life I hope for when I reach there.
Why is it that my perspective gets so stunted that I can't see beyond my current difficulties? When I look at these same circumstances in the context of the destination I head toward, they look very different. They don't go away; Jesus' disciples didn't avoid the pain and sorrow of the following 72 hours, but after the fact, they saw those hours differently. I need the perspective of my Master so I can see my circumstances from His perspective, and enjoy the joy of expectant hope; hope in the destination, my Father's house with many dwelling places. Some of those are for me and my house.
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