When in Trouble . . .

 

 

There are certain ‘laws of nature’ such as ‘what goes up must come down’ referring to gravity. There are certain spiritual laws too, such as ‘The soul that sins must die’ but also ‘There is no condemnation to those in Christ.’

I selected TROUBLE as today’s word and notice right away that it has the same opposites as those two spiritual laws. On the one hand, God brings trouble on those who disobey Him and on the other hand, He calls those who are in trouble to rely on Him.

It seems universal to blame God for trouble, often by those refusing to be responsible for whatever we might have done to bring it on ourselves. God told His people that if they disobeyed them, trouble would befall them (a spiritual law). He knew they might blame Him just as He said in Deuteronomy 31:17:

Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’

Yet there are times when human sin is the obvious cause. A man named Aachan took spoil in battle that was forbidden and Joshua said to him, “’Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.’ And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.” The problem was not God and Aachan had been warned.

2 Chronicles tells of the people being “broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.”  But the Lord told their king Asa to “take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” and as soon as he heard these words, “he took courage and put away the detestable idols . . . and he repaired the altar of the Lord.” This was wise. When disobedience brings trouble, obedience can change things.

However, just like today, blame-shifting also happened. In 1 Kings 18:17–18, when Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” Elijah answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.” Again, breaking the laws of God results in trouble, just as jumping off a cliff results in gravity taking over.

Habakkuk was sensible when God informed him that He would use His enemies to correct the sin of His people. This prophet said, “I hear, and my body trembles; my lips quiver at the sound; rottenness enters into my bones; my legs tremble beneath me. Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble to come upon people who invade us.’ He knew that God also would deal with the sin of those enemies, but it would not happen quickly.

The other side of the ‘trouble coin’ is that God who created this law of cause and effect also offers Himself as the panacea. In Psalm 50:15, He says, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

And other psalmists say: “The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” and “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles” and “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” and “Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.”

In the NT, the shift is from external trouble to the reaction God’s people have to it. Jesus said in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” Jesus makes it possible to not be troubled by trouble!

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. 1 Peter 3:14–17 repeats that idea: “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”

His words point to Jesus Christ who models the attitude God wants for me when trouble comes. Fear is not from Him. Self-effort and retaliation do not work. Only the peace of God and willingness to let Him govern the troubles of life can make any difference to the way this spiritual law works and to ensure that trouble will not trouble me.