JUST THINKING: Where to Turn When Troubles Arise
Each week, I am around people from every lifestyle. I am often engaged with them from minutes to hours. I was just thinking about a common thread — most face troubles of varying sorts. I find myself still being a spiritual counselor long after I have retired from the pastorate.
Are You Any Different?
Many people wake up to a new day saying to themselves, “Woe is me! Another day of dealing with difficulties.” However, not everyone is pessimistic. Some are aware that, despite being born-again children of God, they are not immune to dealing with the events of life, whether good or bad.
The wise man Solomon wrote, “When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other….” (Eccl. 7:14 NIV). Truthfully, you and I are no different from others. While they have a bad day, you may have a good one, but the next day, the situation may be reversed.
Avoid Being Angry at God
A cry often made by the troubled person is, “God, why are you allowing this to happen to me? It’s not fair!” I have been with people who have been so mad at God that they shook their fists toward Heaven, only to be very embarrassed later.
Solomon said, “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools” (Eccl. 7:9).
Resist Discontentment
The apostle Paul awoke to new circumstances daily. He had joy in preaching and seeing souls saved wherever he went. Yet, in those same places, he awoke to troubles, persecutions, ridicule, insults, beatings and dragging. He could have developed that “woe is me” attitude, but he resisted. He wrote, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Phil. 4:12).
Where to Turn When Trouble Arises
Let’s admit it — too often, we turn to the wrong people who give us the wrong advice. As Christians, we should first turn to God’s Word when troubles arise. It’s not a matter of whether they will come but when they will come.
To a great extent, we can identify with Paul and his companions. He wrote, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (II Cor. 4:8-9).
Here is a powerful truth: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:37-39).
Tomorrow, you will awake to a new day that the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad!
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Dr. Tom Mitchell
Dr. Tom Mitchell pens a column titled, Just Thinking, in which he addresses many topics relative to the Baptist Missionary Association. His Trailblazers series provides biographies of many BMA trailblazers from the past.
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