Trouble

When we look at the life of Jesus, it becomes very clear that trouble confronts everyone.  Not even the Son of God who modeled perfection in obedience to the will of the Heavenly Father was exempt from trouble.  There is also that Word He left for us which is recorded in John 16:33 which says, "In the world you face (persecution, tribulation, trouble).  But take courage; I have conquered the world."  The use of the three words in parentheses point to the different ways this verse gets translated and while each word carries with it a shade of difference, the point is that life is not a walk through a rose garden on a sunny Sunday afternoon.     

None of us have to seek trouble, instead, it has a way of finding us.  Our experience of trouble may be as insignificant as a flat tire, or something as life changing as the loss of someone we love.  There are many things which are certain about life.  Trouble is one of them.  It has nothing to do with our faith in God.  It is not some punishment for a failure to live as we are called to live.  To hear Jesus teaching is to hear him telling us that the rain, the winds, and the flood fall on the just and the unjust (Matthew 7:24-27).  Trouble does not discriminate.     

What the Word does promise for us as it speaks in behalf of our Father God is that we never stand alone in the midst of our trouble.   "I am with you always" is what Jesus said (Matthew 28:20).  Not only do we have this promise of Jesus, but we also have the Words of the Spirit who inspired the Apostle Paul to write, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."  (Romans 8:38-39).   When trouble comes, and it will, we have a firm foundation on which to stand.