Where to Go in Times of Trouble
Four decades.
That’s a long time but it doesn’t seem that long ago that I walked the halls at high school.
In four decades, twenty-four of our classmates from a class of 420 died and all the survivors I spoke with were in the middle of, or had been through some kind of tragedy.
What I found is the ones who weathered the storms the best were the ones that had the solid rock, Jesus Christ, to hold onto. The ones who did not were almost unrecognizable. Weather beaten, the pitfalls of life had taken their toll.
Jesus warned us about future problems when he said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Jesus helps us to be overcomers.
What do you need to overcome?
Often times, God uses the tragedies of life as teaching tools. In the days of the ancient prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah, the Israelites were following their own ways, worshipping multiple gods and not loving the one true God with all their heart, soul and strength. The prophets were assigned the task of warning the people of impending doom if they didn’t turn their lives around. But most times, the people scoffed at their words. They didn’t believe the prophets and continued down the same unrighteous path, eventually being taken into some type of enemy captivity against their will. Jeremiah said, “I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long” (Jeremiah 20:7-8).
Prophets didn’t get many dinner invitations because they delivered an unpopular message.
But prophets did have a close relationship with their maker and God is sovereign.
He still wants us to acknowledge him as the one true God. He still desires for us to have an intimate relationship with him. Through his Word, he warns us there will be trouble, so why do we stray away from his presence? Why don’t we cling tightly to him so when the storms come, we don’t get swept away?
I have found the best way to make it through the trials that Jesus talks about is to allow him to carry us through them. They are inevitable. They have come and are coming, whether we like it or not.
We can do this through prayer. We can turn the problems over to Jesus and we can find a Christian support group to maneuver through our issues with others who are facing the same crisis.
God did not intend for us to go through this life alone.
What trouble are you facing now? Know there is hope. Don’t choose to weather the storm alone. Choose the one who stills the water, Jesus.