I’ll be your guide
Text: John 14:23-27
I like photography, and while visiting a gallery some time ago the photographer convinced me to sign up to his email newsletter. A recent newsletter began with the words, “I’ll be your guide!” and continued:
“I’ve never been good at asking for help. I rely on myself – because I’m dependable. I figure things out. That’s my thing. And mostly, it works.
But sometimes… it doesn’t. Sometimes I’ve been stuck, deep in the weeds, watching hours of YouTube tutorials – scrubbing back and forth, hoping for one clean answer. And still feeling lost.
Not because the info wasn’t out there. But because no one was really there. No one who knew me, my work, my way of thinking…
Then, I found someone… Someone who listened. Who showed up. Who stayed in the mess with me and helped me find a way through it. That changed everything.
And now, I want to be that person for you.”
As people who want to live for Christ and serve him faithfully, we can also find ourselves getting ‘stuck deep in the weeds.’ Sometimes these are weeds of pride or self-sufficiency and sometimes they are weeds of fear, uncertainty or despair. We find ourselves, as the photographer described it, “scrubbing back and forth, hoping for one clean answer. And still feeling lost.”
Jesus doesn’t shrink from the reality of life in this broken world either. He spoke openly to his disciples about his innocent suffering and death, his betrayal at the hands of Judas, his denial by Peter, and his impending return to the Father. This caused them profound confusion and great distress.
Nor does he promise us that life should be better than it is or call us to ‘paper over’ our troubles so we can find peace in our hearts.
Just like the photographer discovered, in our confusion and distress the answer is not to be found in our own searching. It is not to be found by our being ‘dependable’ and trying to ‘figure things out’ by ourselves because, when we do that, we end up listening to wrong – and often confusing – voices, and still ‘feeling lost’, ‘stuck, deep in the weeds.’
The good news is that, for us too, there is ‘someone who listened, who showed up, who stayed with us through the mess, who helps us find a way through it, and who changes everything.’
That is what Jesus teaches his disciples and us in John 14, saying:
23 ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 ‘All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’
The peace Jesus promises does not come from anyone or anything in this world. It comes neither from denying nor avoiding the reality of our brokenness, nor from trying to ‘figure things out for ourselves’. True peace comes from knowing that in God’s grace, his Holy Spirit connects us to the One who is himself peace, who by the power of his death and resurrection has truly overcome everything that could cause our hearts to be troubled.
We thank God that, in Jesus and his Spirit, there is, ‘Someone who listened. Who showed up. Who stays in the mess with [us] and helps [us] find a way through it.’
A victorious Saviour who says, ‘And now, I want to be that person for you!’
