When Trouble Comes!

(1) SOME HAVE HEALTH PROBLEMS

This is a wonderful age in which we live. We hear of some folks who have vision problems. They go to the doctor for some out-patient surgery, and in a few weeks they have 20-20 vision again.

Illus: I heard about an elderly retired gentleman that had severe hearing problems.

He went to the doctor, and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the man to hear better than he had ever heard before.

One month later, the elderly man went back again to the doctor. The doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again."

The gentleman said, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!"

(2) SOME FOLKS HAVE FINANCIAL PROBLEMS

Some folks are able to solve these problems easily enough, they are very shrewd when it comes to business.

Illus: A city boy moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day.

The next day, the farmer drove up and said,

• "Sorry, but I have some bad news. The donkey died."

• "Well, then, just give me my money back."

• "Can't do that. I went and spent it already."

• "OK, then, just unload the donkey."

• "What ya gonna do with him?"

• "I'm going to raffle him off."

• "You can't raffle off a dead donkey!"

• "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead, they will just think he is sleeping."

A month later the farmer met up with the city boy and asked:

• "What happened with that dead donkey?"

• "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $898."

• "Didn't anyone complain?"

• "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back!"

The boy grew up to be a senior executive at ENRON.

But many of the problems we have, like David, are problems we brought on ourselves.

When people find themselves with these problems, they look for someone to blame them on. Rather than accept responsibility for these problems, sometimes we will even blame them on God.

Illus: This reminds me of growing up. We knew from a child that these bodies of ours need:

• Good nutrition

• Good rest

• Good exercise

We deprive these bodies of all three of these things, and then when we start to have serious health problems, we can not understand how the mean God of heaven can allow these terrible things to happen to us.

We start reading books on how “Bad things happen to good people.” The only problem with that is that we were not good. We do not want to take any responsibility for the problem, it is all God’s fault or someone else’s fault.

Illus: Some people who smoke cigarettes find that they have a terminal disease. They say that it is not their fault, it is those mean people who make and sell those cigarettes. They refuse to take any responsibility for the problem.

Illus: It is like these people who walk into McDonald’s restaurant and eat all kinds of junk food, then, when they have cholesterol in their veins instead of blood, and are facing a heart attack or stroke, they do not want to take the blame for the problem. It is McDonald’s fault for selling them food that they knew was junk food when they bought it.

King David had a lot of problems, and he brought most of them on himself. But David came to recognize that he was the problem. Generally, when people begin to recognize that they brought the problems on themselves, there is some hope for them.

Illus: David reminds us of the fellow that walked into a prison and began to go from cell to cell, trying to help the inmates in each cell. He asked each one why were they there:

• Some blamed a family member

• Some blamed a neighbor

• Some blamed society

Finally he came to a cell where a man replied, “I am here because of a crime I committed and I am paying for that crime.” The man said to the guard, “I want to talk to him, all the rest I can not help, but this man I can help!”

With all these problems, look how David began to get his life straightened out. It is something every one of us should do when life seems to cave in on us. Let’s look at -

I. DAVID’S PRAISE

Look at Psalm 34:1 2, we read, “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.”