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Times of trouble are nothing unique to the Christian. In fact, when Jesus told His followers to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him and that whosoever should lose their life for the sake of Christ would find it, He was not just speaking metaphorically. Indeed, as we’ve looked at before, the disciples all met their end in ways that we would never desire, and those that followed Christ with their all are promised persecution.
Being that is the case, we can now understand why there are many Psalms dedicated to trouble—Psalmists wondering why the righteous seem to have more than the unrighteous, wondering about the different things that they’ve gone through and why they are chosen to receive trouble and asking for the Lord to get them out of it.
Times of trouble are great teaching moments. This is because we are used to believing that we are in control of things– and our culture is based on knowing everything and anything. I’m convinced that people were much better followers of God when they didn’t know what a cold or warm front was, what kinds of cancer you could get, and such– not that medicine and knowing the weather are wrong, but each time we take God out of the equation He has to do something bigger to get our attention.
Trouble teaches us three things that I think are key:
- Times of Trouble Show Us God’s Power
- Times of Trouble Show Us Who is With God
- Times of Trouble Show Us What We Should Really Fear
They are very revealing– and we can all expect them. What we can be sure of, however, is that if we are in the will of God, doing the work of God, we will be protected by Him—regardless of the trouble.
