All of us encounter trouble from time to time in our lives. Sometimes the trials and tribulations come as a test. Sometimes they come for the glory of God. And sometimes they come as a way of bringing us to the end of our Self, of depending on our abilities and of depending on our own resources and our self-sufficiency to totally depending upon and trusting in Jesus Christ.
Today I want to share with you The Truth About Trouble. I want to communicate what can come out of trouble. It’s not always the trials, temptations and tribulations that come, but rather our response to them that really matters. So I suggest to you first of all that:
I. Trouble is a Means Whereby God is Revealed
As believers we’re to immediately look upward when bad things happen to us. We need to acknowledge to God that we’re trusting in Jesus Christ who is inside of us, first and foremost to handle our present trouble. We need to ask the question, “Lord what are you saying to me through this circumstance?” If we will seek His face and be still before Him, we will know His presence in our trouble.
Psalm 107:24-29 says, “They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves; They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away . . . “ Have you been there? I have, but listen to the healing ministry of trouble. “THEN they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and He brought them out of their distress.” Oh, the peace that comes when His presence enters the trouble. It’s all worth it when God opens our eyes and we see Him right there in the midst of it all. That’s where “the peace that passes all understanding” blooms in the darkness of our suffering and those around us are astounded.
Sonny Holland tells the story of visiting in prison and meeting a young man who was there because of a life of rebellion and drugs along with all that comes with it. The man began telling his story and Sonny said, “I’m so sorry.” The young man said, “no preacher, I’m glad I was caught and I’m glad they sent me here. It was here that I met Jesus and God changed my life.” Trouble is a Means whereby God is Revealed. Secondly:
II. Trouble is a Ministry whereby Growth is Reached
Jesus said in our focal text, “In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Faith in Jesus Christ who lives inside of us is the victory over the world, as 1 John 5:4-5 indicates. And in 1 John 3:18 the Scripture says that Jesus came for the purpose of destroying the work of the evil one. So John says over one chapter at I John 4:4 as a child of God, you have overcome the evil spirit “because the one who is inside you is greater than he who is in the world.” But did you know that the greatest hindrance to the expression of Christ’s life in and through a believer is the flesh, the patterns of programmed flesh that we’ve developed outside of Christ. All it takes is stress plus time to will reveal your functional source of life, what you’re really trusting in to deal with life. However, the Word says in Galatians 5:24 that “those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” And the victory over the flesh is as Galatians 5:16 says, “walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh” which is to depend on Self to get your God-given needs met instead of maturing to depend on Christ to meet your every need.
Christ has conquered the world, the flesh and the devil. And He did it all by standing on the Word of God through every temptation we will ever face. And the truth for us is we grow and mature in our Christian walk when we go through any trouble and put our complete trust and faith in Jesus to carry us through and handle the difficulty. As one unknown writer wrote: “When nothing whereon to lean remains; When our strength is crumbled to dust, When nothing is sure but that God still reigns – that is just the time to trust. Tis’ better to walk by faith than sight in this path of yours and mine; In the pitch black night when there’s no outward light is the time for faith to shine.” We are to shine forth as lights in a dark world among a crooked and perverse generation. As we do Trouble will be a Ministry whereby Growth is Reached. Finally:
III. Trouble is a Messenger whereby Grace is Received
The apostle Paul knew what it was to have a thorn in the flesh that buffeted him. When God did not remove this trial after 3 prayer meetings, He revealed to Paul that it was not the removal of the thorn he needed. It was God’s grace he needed to receive. He said to Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “My grace is sufficient for you; for my power is made perfect in weakness . . .” Paul realized that he could gladly glory in his weaknesses so that the power of Christ might be expressed through his life.
There may be many answers as to why trouble comes into our lives. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Praise be to . . . the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” Through every heartache and tragedy we experience, we should learn to comfort others. To the family who must leave a child at the cemetery, we can say, “His grace IS sufficient. You will smile again.” To the parents and grandparents of wayward and rebellious children, I can say, “Our God is a deliverer, our ever present help in time of trouble. He WILL come through because He promised.” To the young couple struggling with finances, I can say, “I’ve been there and I know if you walk in faith looking unto Jesus, knowing that He is your source, you WILL rise above these trying times.
How will a lost and unbelieving world see the glory of God in our lives unless that which we claim to hold true to be put to test? We are his vineyard, He is the gardener. We are the branches that must be pruned to bring forth much fruit. We are on the potters wheel. He is the potter who knows just how to mold and make us into the vessel that He desires to use. We are the treasure in the field that He came to seek and we must be placed in the fiery furnace so the dirt and dross is burned off and the beauty that He saw in us can be revealed as pure and precious gold.
Beloved, with these truths from God’s Word let us remember the words of Peter as he wrote to us in 1 Peter 4:12-13, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”
With all this in mind, what do we do when we face these fiery trials? We turn to God, the only true and living God through faith in His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. We stand on the truth that His precious promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ and that Jesus Christ is inside of us. Therefore believing every promise will be fulfilled through us until our trouble is past. We can’t go under because “the eternal God is our refuge and underneath us are His everlasting arms.”
(The outline for this message came from a sermon by Sonny Holland entitled “Peace In Our Storms” while most of the content comes from The Exchanged Life perspective of trials, tribulations and suffering.)
