For quite of an extensive amount of years now I have longed to develop a serious inquisition concerning this physical disorder. This inconvenient element, this confused emotion, this transitive verb which had been photographed in my mind called trouble.
For quite a while now I’ve been wondering and pondering why is it that trouble seems to heighten and lift its ugly heads in my life so much. I must confess that at the pinnacle, the apex and the zenith the combination of the crowning point of my thoughts lately has been a puzzling question, that why is it in this modern day, that I’m still filled, bombarded, overwhelmed and saturated with what seems to always look like a crisis, and troubles are on every hand.
I have often wondered why is it that the grey clouds of anguish and torment, agony and suffering continue hoover, linger, and loiter in the area of my life where I’ve decided rest my mind in solidarity which causes my life to be effective with the rain falls of disappointment, worries and anxieties.
To be honest I have often baptized my thoughts in curiosity of how wonderful it would be, if my present existence never made any contact or connection, with any pain, setback, sorrow, suffering or disappointments.
I’m telling you that I have often wonder, as some of you have, could there ever be a time in my life that I could enjoy some trouble free time, a life of trouble exemption, a problem free life, a life of no crisis that are working against me. I often fantasize serenity and tranquility and little quietude and quietness, just a time of just some peace in the valley.
But, I must admit that when I finally came back to myself, back to common reality. Reality reminded me that life on this planted will not allow me to submit or to commit to such a utopia, a paradise or dreamland. Reality Shouted WAKE UP.
Reality gave me some insight, reality gave me a rude awaiting and a shaking, as Job said, “that man that is born of a woman is of a few days, and those days are filled with trouble.
So I don’t know but it just seems to look like that this human man, and mankind is just a magnet for drawing troubles and problems. So now being conscience of this infallible fact, the question that hangs in front of my mind is what now shall we do? When the rain falls of trouble comes down upon me, what now should I do? When I am pressed on every side, persecuted, struck down, and forsaken, I asked the question what then. What should my behavior pattern be?
Should I make the attempt to run flee and try to escape out of desperation? Should we become a fugitive from trouble? Or should we just give up, give in and tap-out.
I’ve got news for you New Galilean, I’m here to tell you my brothers and sister that we should never negate Psalms 34:19 which say’s Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
My brothers and my sister we should never forget about John 16:33 which say, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
We should never overlook Acts 14:22 which says, we must go through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.
Please don’t forget about 2nd Timothy 3:12, which teach us all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer some persecution.
And whatever you do don’t discard John 15:20 that tell us “Remember the word that I said to you, 'that a servant is not greater than his master.' And if they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
So I say to you my sisters and brothers of destiny and to the body of Christ. We must not ever get sidetracked by the certainly of trouble. We should not ever get to the point where we as Christians think that we are exempt for trouble.
And I can be the first to admit that I don’t like trouble, but trouble seems to like me. My flesh rejects trouble, but my spirit accepts it. The reason that my spirit accepts it is because my spirit belongs to God and God knowns that trouble will come to break me, so that it can make it.
Let me see if I can make it plain I want to put trouble under what I call a microscopic scriptural evaluation. Let’s see if we can get some clarity about trouble.
First of all how do we deal with this multiplicity of the events of trouble because it seems that through the years:
No Mafia has been able to assassinate it
Al-Qaeda has not been able to bomb it
And certainly Isis has not been able to beheaded it, trouble says to us I’m here for the duration of eternity. And since trouble won’t leave us alone, then how do we as Christians deal with the damaging effect of trouble.
Well let me share a secret with you. When I was probing through the scripture neighborhood of Hebrews the prescription that it gave me was Faith. While I was cascading my way through the biblical landscape of 1st Peter to get some understanding on this matter, it was right there. Between the 13th chapter and the 303 verse of Hebrews, right between the 5th chapters and the 105 verses of 1st Peter I seen it.
It was compacted, nestled, condensed right there between Hebrews and 1st Peter, the optic nerve of the transparent lens of my eyeball accidentally bump into this masterpiece of Godly literature right in front of me there it was the Epistle of James chapter one verses one through three.
In this scriptural landmark I finally found out what we should do in the time of crisis. I bumped into the answer that has been calling me all of the time, and it shared with me what to do when trouble attacks us without a moment notice, it’s right here.
And I know this James boy because this is the same James that was a sceptic of Jesus at one time and then later became a bondservant. This is the same James who was believed to be the half biological brother of the Jesus. This same James that was the bishop at the church in Jerusalem, I know who he is.
James is clear that he understands what the first century church was dealing with.
He understood that many were being thrown over high mountains to their death, many were hung naked on meat hooks, others were ripped wide open by sharp swords, split in half by axes and their heads were being chopped of on the chopping blocks. Slashed to death by sharp knives, roasted to death on grills, baked to death in hot ovens, beaten to death with heavy hammers, they were starved to death, stone to death, whipped to death with leather strap and glass hanging from the end of them, scold to death by hot oil, choked to death, by man’s hand, pushed in to pits filled with vicious vipers, put in to cave with wild animals, and thrown in lion’s den to being eating alive, yes James understood what the men and women of God was going through. It was from this type of agony that James was propelled and compelled to write upon his pad of this epistle, and he wasted no time.
After his greeting in verse one He says my brethren, which refers to the body of Christ. He said my brethren count it all joy when you fall into diver temptations. Some of you all are already looking at me funny because can you imagine James stopping by New Galilean talking about count it all joy while we are going through.
In the mist of our suffering and trouble and you want me to count, and on top of that you want me to count it all as joy. Wait a minute James you mean to tell me that while my child stomach is growling, while my husband says that he loves me but still has his little black book, while my children is gang banging, my job is closing and I’m barley make it and you want me to count, and then count it all as joy.
I hear what you are saying James, and I’m trying to follow you but you are making it hard for because I’m going through and you are throwing this paradox at me. Because for many of us it seems foolish, irrational, and thoughtless, and out right silly.
But what I have learned is if you are going to hold these qualities you are going to have to be saved, sanctified and Holy Ghost filled, because the fact of the matter is when we are going through we don’t want to hear about holding on some of us want to cuss. When we are being pushed we don’t want to hear about turning the other cheek we want to fight back. The fact of the matter is that someone that is not saved don’t want to hear this philosophy, if you think I’m lying just think about the time when you wasn’t saved. Let me see if I can make it plain. I dare you to go up to some unsaved brother who has just lost his job, his wife is leaving him, just had an accident in his uninsured car and say hey bruh, just shout and count it all joy. And see how that works for ya. But now as a Christians we ought to have a different response.
In fact, we ought to be able to say father have you look at you child lately I’m going through down here. Father I’m sick in this old body, I’m a little burden down but I want to still say thank you. I’m going through hard ache and pain, but it’s all good. I’m doing a little suffering, but its ok I still want to thank you. Lord have you looked at me lately because I’m zapped, I’m sapped with no peace in my home, my home has been violated, my son is on dope, my daughter is pregnant, my children are gone wild, my marriage is on the rocks, bills are due and overdue. My job is up for grab, my rent is do, my life is in trouble. I’m so blue I don’t know what to do, my lights are out and my friends are few. I’ve been let down, hurl down kicked down push down, cast down, knocked down, lower down, looked down, hammer down, shoveled down kicked down, put down, kept down. I’m at the bottom of bottom, I’ve hit rock bottom at the bottom of bottom but to God be the Glory. As a saved person no matter what we are going through we ought to be able to find a way to tell the Lord thank you. Because the fact of the matter is I will still bless the Lord at all time and his praises shall continually be in my mouth. I will enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise.
James gives us the mandate to rejoice in troubling times.
Now only did James give us the invitation to rejoice but he also gives us at least one reason as the body why we ought to rejoice.
In verse three he connects this adjective and this pronoun by saying knowing this. What is James saying? He saying we can shout through our troubles because of what we know. In other words James was saying that we have a knowing faith. We know what others have testified to. Job said the other day I know that my redeemer lives.
I heard 1st John say 3:2 say Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. Yes we have a knowing faith.
Even though we are going through we sing the song that I know the Lord will make a way yes he will.
I’m telling you that we can rejoice because we know this that trouble comes to bring our faith into better focus, and know this. The verse says that the trying of you faith understand that the meaning of try here is testing. We know that trouble won’t last always.
If there’s any teacher on the live you know that the best way to know if your student is learning anything is to give them a test. In my day of growing up they used to call them pop quizzes. And what I have learned is that you will never know where your Christianity is until you go through the testes of life.
You can always exercise your faith when things are going well but the real trying starts when things are not going so well. I’ve learn that real faith works better when you are reaching up and have nothing to hold on to. Real faith works better when you’re stepping out and have nothing to step on.
Just like milk works better in cereal
Butter works better on an ear of corn
A pencil works better on paper
Just like ink works better in a pen
Fish can swim better in the water
Airplane works better in the air
A ship runs better on water
A car runs better on gas
So, I stop by to tell you that faith works much better when thing’s seems impossible.
I stop by to tell somebody that our faith works better when it’s being tested.
As I give you this last piece of info I must really go, I remember in school the teacher would say after the test students whatever you do don’t throw away your test paper and we would as the question why not and she went on to say that in a few weeks we are going to have finals and you are going to need to know the answers that are on this test so that you can pass the finals.
And I stop by to tell somebody don’t throw away the test paper because there are some answers that you are going to need to help you through your next set of problems.
So, as I leave you all this morning:
Please know that when trouble come knocking at your doors, and when trouble arrives in your zip code, when we you have to go down in the low valleys please know that you have a God that can bring you out.
I remember a time in the rural country of Beaumont TX there lived a woman by the named of Miss Essie, and she lived in this rotten tin can shack.
In the 1970’s one of the world’s worst storms hit her house. And it was said that the storm was so bad that the winds snatched that tin roof out of that old wooden frame. A few days after the storm was over, I heard that Miss Essie was out sitting on her porch in a rocking chair, singing and mourning how good God is.
It wasn’t very long that her 12 year old son arrived back to the house and seen his mother rejoicing and he asked her how is it that you can rejoice when there is trouble all around us.
He said, momma I really don’t understand how is it that in these troubling time that you can have so much joy. But the mother said, son you don’t understand, we have so much to grateful for.
You see a few hours ago there was a young man that came down here representing the government and he told me that we eligible to get government fund, and it won’t be long before we receive our check that going to cover everything that we’ve lost.
You remember that old tin roof that we had, it had holes over here and holes over there, and we didn’t have any money to get it fixed. But in a few days from now we are going to have a new roof over our head. Do you remember how we had hole in the floor and the possums use to climbs up into the house, but now we are going to have a brand new floor, if we can just hold out for a few more hours everything will be alright. So, please leave me alone, because I have so much to be grateful for in these troubled times.
Because the truth is if it had not been for the storms that we went through the other night, we would not have been able to do the things that we are about to do for this house.
And I stop by to tell somebody this morning I know that you been going through some storms, I know that the rain has fell in your life, I know that many of you have lost your roof. But I came representing the heaven government of God, and I can hear the Lord in my spirit saying that you are eligible for some assistance, and in a few days the Lord is going to have your disbursement in your hands.
If you can just hold on a little while longer everything will be alright.
If you can just hold on, Trouble won’t last always.
But most of all if you can just praise God in your troubling times, because one of these old days it will be alright.
I really didn’t mean to hold yall this long, please forgive me but I had to stop by to tell you that I’ve had some good days and I’ve had some bad days but that man who hung out there still been good to me.
And if the Lord has been good to you slip your arms somebody and tell them that the Lord has been good to me.
