Trouble In My Way

Trouble In My Way

Scripture: Job 14:1; Mark 4:35-41; John 14:1-6; Deut. 28:1-13

I am sure many of you know this….there are Christians who believe that because they have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior they will not have troubles in this life. As a matter of fact, they believe that because a Christian is blessed and highly favored by the Lord their lives will be one of continual blessings. Of course, when you read the Bible, we know that this is not necessarily the case. But what is troubling to me is that those who do believe this believe it because they are hearing it preached from the pulpit. They are hearing from the pulpit that if they are not walking in the blessings of God which include an abundance of finances then it’s because they are doing something wrong. It’s because they do not have enough faith. I want you to know this morning that we will experience troubles, but along with the troubles comes the blessings which I will speak more of shortly. The title of my message this morning is “Trouble in My Way.”

When I was growing up in our small country Church, the choir sang several songs that dealt with experiencing troubles. One of my favorite songs was “Trouble in My Way”. That song, even from the time that I was a pre-teen, always ministered to my spirit. I cannot tell you why except, as a youngster, I saw some of the troubles and difficulties my parents experienced raising the five of us kids. Seeing some of their troubles and their never ending faith in God led me to believe the words of the songs we sung. I came to the believe, based on songs like these, that no matter what I faced in life, God would be there to take care of me. Let me share with you a few of the words of this song since some of you may not know it. For those of you who do, I am sure that this will bring back memories and cause you to smile today if your Church still sings these songs. Some of the words to this song says: “Trouble in my way, I have to cry sometimes, trouble in my way, I have to cry sometimes, I laid awake at night, but that’s all right, for I know that Jesus, Jesus, He will fix it, after a while.”

There was another song sung by the late Ms. Mahalia Jackson titled “Soon I Will Be Done”. Ms. Jackson sung this song with such emotions that you knew it came from a lifetime of seeing God bring her through trouble after trouble. It says, “Soon I will be done with the troubles of this world, troubles of this world, the troubles of this world; soon I will be done, with the troubles of this world, I’m going home to live with God. No more weeping and a wailing, no more weeping and a wailing, no more weeping and a wailing, going home to live with God.” As you can see, the words of the song expressed the feeling, that although we are experiencing troubles on this side, the day will come when troubles will cease. There will be no more crying or sorrows over there for we will be in the presence of the Lord forever.

While these songs were sung in the Church, there were many secular songs that also dealt with troubles. Two classes of music that I am sure many of you are familiar with are the Blues and Country music. There is nothing like listening to the Blues when you are depressed or feeling down – if you want to feel even more depressed than you were feeling before you turned the music on. I remember hearing the song “Stormy Monday.” When you listen to that song, it tells you that Monday is stormy, Tuesday is just as bad, Wednesday is worse, and all Thursday is all so sad. Now if you are feeling bad on Monday and you listen to this song, you really have nothing to look forward to for the rest of the week. Some Blues and Country music can add to the deepness of your feelings of depression if you listen to them during those times. How many of you have heard the saying “misery loves company”? When you are feeling down and you’re listening to the Blues, it is like the song understands what you are feeling and/or going through which further justifies you continuing to feel the way that you do. It is my personal opinion that the worst thing you can do when you are feeling down is listen to some Blues and/or Country music. Yes it may help you understand that others know what you are going through, but it does nothing to lift you up.