Ever get the blues? Do you crank up a good old blues song when you do? One of my faves is this Ray Lamontagne classic:
Trouble….trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble
Trouble’s been doggin’ my soul since the day I was born.
We find out quickly as a kid what it means to get into trouble. And then we learn that troubles can come upon us without any real fault of our own. In fact trouble seems to chase us. Trouble’s been doggin’ our souls from day one.
I did a quick search today and found the world trouble is in the Bible 105 times.
Funny thing, the first time we find this word in the scriptures, it’s a parent talking to his kids. Jacob tells two of his sons, “You’ve brought trouble on me” when they embarrassed him in front of the neighbors. Relatable.
Smack in the middle of the Bible we find Job declaring hard times are simply the norm. “…man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward” Job 5:7.
Hopefully you aren’t expecting a reprieve in the New Testament. There we find Jesus himself clearly saying this is a daily problem when he says, “sufficient for the day is its own trouble” and again, “In this world you will have trouble.”
We try to avoid it. We get in a pity party when it comes. We feel like it’s a personal attack from an angry divine parent. But in reality, it’s simply a condition of living in a world fallen and filled with sin and sinners.
In this world you will have trouble.
Life’s not fair and all that. We need to know this and not let it throw us. We need to teach this to our kids too. It’s not helpful to try to shelter them from every trouble. It’s more helpful to teach them how to learn from life’s inevitable ups and downs.
Here are three things that troubles are meant to teach us.
1. Reliance on God. No matter how good we are, how hard we work, or how much stuff we accumulate, troubles come upon us to teach us that we are not really in control. Financial strain, relational tensions, health problems, and death all come to us in spite of our best efforts. At that time we turn to God for help: To provide for us financially. To teach us forgiveness. To heal us. And to give us rock-solid hope in the resurrection. He is there, longing to care for you. “In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me” (Psalm 86:7).
2. Appreciation for the good days. “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” is a real thing. Over and over in the Psalms we see a call to thanksgiving for all the times God delivers his people. He sees us in our mess and pulls us out. And in response, we tell Him: Help us remember your faithfulness and trust that You will bring deliverance from our current struggle and see us through to an eternal bright future. “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17).
3. Closer connection with Christ. Jesus showed us how to suffer. He showed us how to be in a place of extreme agony and how to pray to the Father, “Not my will but Your will be done.” He taught us to deny ourselves daily, to carry our cross, to die to self. That’s trouble language. When we follow Him faithfully in our pain, we experience his grace more deeply. Paul said all he wanted was to gain Christ in this way, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10).
Our next sermon series brings us back into the Book of Acts where we see the Holy Spirit doing amazing things among God’s people. He will also activate in you a supernatural ability to endure hard times. As the scripture promises, He helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26).
So in times of trouble, turn on some blues, keep singing, and keep on trusting,
