Trouble is on the Way

One thing many Christians don't seem to grasp is that troubles WILL come. If a person knows the whole of God's Word, then he or she should have picked up on this fact long ago.

The life of Joseph as told in the book of Genesis tells of a teenage boy being sold as a slave by his brothers. Then after years of faithful service as a slave in Egypt, he was falsely accused of sexually attacking his master's wife. He was thrown into an Egyptian prison and languished there for several years before he correctly interpreted Pharaoh's crazy dream. Pharaoh was so impressed by this young man's wisdom and connection to God that he decided to appoint Joseph to oversee his entire kingdom.

In time, Joseph was able to rescue his brothers and their families from starvation. God had a big plan that Joseph was unaware of. Yet in the end, when Joseph's brothers apologized to him, he was able to say, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.“

At the beginning of the New Testament we can read about Mary’s story. She had a clear directive to carry and give birth to God’s son. She obeyed but her path was anything but easy.

Paul was given orders to take the truth about Jesus to the Gentiles. He obeyed. But he was stoned, beaten, imprisoned, in a shipwreck, and finally martyred.

God’s people suffer. Why? Because we are doing God's work in a world under the influence of our enemy. A very sinister, crafty enemy that hates us and wants to destroy us. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

Also, God allows us to suffer because He needs to raise up people that aren't weak, selfish, short-sighted, impatient. He needs people who can love others. Who will have compassion. Who know how to comfort. Who know how to give good, godly advice.

Suffering, trouble, and hard times come with a purpose. A deep, often incomprehensible purpose. That is why we are told to rejoice. When we rejoice we are acknowledging that we believe that God is working. We are expressing our trust in our loving, heavenly Father. We are expressing trust on a deep level.

He is at work. No matter what. He’s doing something bigger and better than anything we could dream up. We can’t see it. We can’t understand it. But we must choose to let Him do what He needs to do. A rejoicing Christian is a trusting Christian. One who has faith. And that faith will be rewarded.

It's a trend now to practice gratitude. That's a good thing, I guess. But I always want to ask, who are you grateful to? Sometimes the answer is obvious. You're grateful to a person or an organization that did something good for you. But when there's no object of your gratitude, doesn't it seem a little flat? Are you just floating around, trying your best to practice “an attitude of gratitude”?

If you're a child of God, you're told to rejoice for a reason. To rejoice in HIM, the giver of all good things. You're told to give thanks. To whom? Again to Him, the one who has all power and is always with you and who loves you with a deep, eternal love.

We'll experience good times and bad times while here on this earth. Our job is to choose to honor and glorify the name of God, in the midst of both extremes and everything in the middle. God will hold us through it all.

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:10‭-‬11)