Read John 14:1-6.

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (v. 3).

The disciples of Jesus were having a bad day! Jesus was still with them; they could see and touch him. He had just washed their feet. But all that good news had been negated by the bad news of 13:32: Jesus was soon going to leave them. And worse yet, Jesus had predicted that one of them would betray Him. It all made no sense to their worldview, and their confidence about the future disappeared like the morning dew. Like the psalmist in our verse yesterday, their spirits were “cast down within them.”
Jesus immediately begins the process of building their confidence on a firmer foundation. It is as though Jesus is saying in these opening verses of John 14, “Can you only trust me when you can see me?” It is a question he is asking to each of us!
Jesus wanted His disciples, including us, to understand that His Word should be a greater source of confidence than His presence. For Jesus, absence does not make the heart to wander. He is working just as much for us in His absence as in His presence! It is far better to be present with Him “there” than for Him to be present with us here. It was not until after Pentecost that the disciples were able to grasp what Jesus was saying. May the Holy Spirit also help us place more confidence in His Word than in His presence. (Gordon Snider)
“Time is filled with swift transition.
Naught of earth unmoved can stand.
Build your hopes on things eternal.
Hold to God’s unchanging hand.”
--- Jennie Wilson