Trouble

Everywhere we turn in this life, every moment of every day, there is, at the very least, the potential for trouble. We can fight it and deny it with all of our strength, but trouble will rear its ugly head nonetheless.

It doesn’t matter how much faith we have or how perfect we are, trouble will always come. This is because trouble is not dependent upon us for its existence. Trouble is a normal part of life. Yes, we can stir up trouble, we can cause trouble, and we can open the door to trouble through our own choices or actions… but we absolutely cannot ever avoid trouble completely.

Even if you were absolutely perfect and lived on the side of a mountain with no other person within a 50 mile radius, you would still have trouble. I mean, things break, people get sick, all kinds of things can happen. (And then you would have to go through it alone, which makes it all so much worse!)

So, what can we do?

The faster we learn that trouble will always come, the happier we will be!

There is a virtue I learned from a little book entitled, “Hinds’ Feet on High Places,” (which I highly recommend). This important virtue, which I see as one of the keys to abundant living, is called Acceptance with Joy. If we can find our way to growing this virtue in the garden of our character, we will be able to stand on mountains of trouble with smiles on our faces and JOY in our hearts.

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

The faster we can get to “acceptance” when troubles arise (I’ll explain this more in the next section), the happier our lives will be in general. Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t fight when trouble comes. It just means we don’t bury our heads in the sand and pretend like it’s not happening. Or for some, it means we don’t worry, complain, completely freak out, or abuse others in response to pressures caused by trouble.

STEP ONE may be acceptance, but STEP TWO is act in faith. More on that below…

“Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe [confidently] in God and trust in Him, [have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and] believe also in Me.”

John 14:1

Overcoming Trouble in Circumstances

Every single day, circumstances pop up that we do not expect. I forgot to go to the gas station yesterday, so this morning I was inconvenienced by needing to plan a fuel stop. A simple mistake that caused me some brief frustration at myself, but easy enough to overcome.

The Lunch Mishap

Over this past weekend, my husband and I hosted three hospitality rooms at an all-day marching band competition for our local high school. Due to miscommunication on someone else’s part, we found out very last minute that we were supposed to provide lunch and dinner for one set of guests when we thought all they needed from us would be snacks. Not only that, but we had to provide said lunch in just under 30 minutes!

Now, if we had allowed ourselves to turn to anger, frustration, blowing our tempers, and making sure we belittled and berated those who initially made the mistake, not only would we have waisted precious moments that could have been used for problem-solving and actions of faith, we also would have embarrassed our school, ruined our witness for Christ, burned bridges and destroyed any possibility of mercy, grace, forgiveness, and lessons learned.

In the case of our lunch mishap, all it took was a moment of teamwork and clearheaded decision-making to get the job done. We already had lunch set up in another building, so we shifted half of that meal to the smaller group who needed a last minute lunch right away, then we hopped in the car and headed to Walmart to make up the difference for the first room, which had no firm start or end times. All done within 30 minutes… no anger, no blustering, no complaining… just grateful actions of faith, thank God.

Did we always know how to do this??? Absolutely NOT.

If this had happened 10 years ago, it very possibly would have gone the other, more destructive direction. I used to be a hot-headed mess under pressure. My levels of perfectionism knew no bounds, and my poor family bore the brunt of my anger and sharp tongue, especially when guests were coming to my “Christian” home. It’s amazing just how low we can treat our own spouse and children in an effort to impress a stranger off the street, or “friends” from church.

<<Please read my regretful, groaning, head-shaking, face-palm here.>>

The virtues of Acceptance with Joy and Actions of Faith took decades for me to learn… with what seemed like endlessly repeating and very frustrating lessons… but I don’t regret that time, and I wouldn’t trade the treasures of those lessons for all the gold in all the world.

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who take refuge in Him.”

Nahum 1:7

Overcoming Trouble in the Mind

Greater troubles than these I have mentioned will we often face in this life. Personally, I have walked through rejection, abandonment, and abuse. I have fought for the lives of my children. I have battled depression, anxiety, and utter hopelessness. But not one of these circumstances did I ever face alone. Even when I felt alone, I never was. Father God was with me from the start.

There are two people in my life who are battling cancer, but they are not fighting it alone. I am humbled and in awe of the grace they walk in every single day. In the presence of overwhelming trouble, their equal responses are, “I am completely at peace. My times are in God’s hands.” And forward they march, seemingly never missing a beat.

Are they perfect in their fight? No. They fear, they dread, they are in pain. But what makes all the difference is that their hands are in the hands of God. They take all the trouble this life has given them, and they place it with the Father. In exchange, He sees them… He knows them… and He gives them JOY and PEACE that make no sense.

That is victory in its purest form. They are winning even in the midst of struggle.

When this world has given them every right to complain, these beautiful, godly women boldly speak their faith in God and He upholds them with His righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10).

I can find myself complaining in my heart about the smallest inconveniences while these ladies are dancing upon appalling circumstances with faith in every step! Man, that’s who I want to be.

“Do not fear, only believe.” ~ Jesus

Mark 5:36b

We are down to STEP THREE in handling our troubles with virtue and character: ONLY BELIEVE.

1. Acceptance with Joy
2. Actions of Faith
3. Only Believe

This third and most important key in dealing with trouble, another key to abundant living, has to do with where our minds are centered. Whether we are facing mental or physical circumstances, what we BELIEVE is what will either give us victory, or defeat us before we even begin to fight.

In my former years, the theme of my life was, “I am rejected.” That was the filter through which I experienced everything. Every passing glance on a person’s face told me they didn’t like me. Every sideways word I heard told me I had no worth. Every mistake I made was another hint of my own countless flaws and inevitable failure. I believed I was rejected at the core of my being, therefore rejection was the foundation upon which I lived my life. Unloved, unloving, and unlovable.

However, when the Lord set me free from rejection beginning in January 2018, the brand new themes of my life… based on the Truth of God’s Word and His perfect mercy and grace… became LOVED, ACCEPTED, and FORGIVEN. These days, I no longer believe the whispers and lies of rejection as they try to speak over my life. My constant reply is, “that sounds like rejection so it must be a LIE.” When I began to believe in God’s unconditional love for me, I became UNBURDENED, UNAFRAID, RELATIONAL, and LOVING. All due to a switch in what I believed.

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

Mark 9:23

What do you believe today?

Do you believe you are all alone in the midst of your trouble? Cry out to God today and let Him show you just how much He is with you, and how to find your way through this forest of trees. He knows the name of every person who seeks refuge in Him. You were not made to carry burdens. The Father loves you, so let Him do the heavy lifting.

Prayers of Preparation

Knowing that we will never be able to avoid trouble, my constant prayers are these:

• Lord, help me to rejoice when trouble comes (Romans 5:3-4).
  
• Lord, help me to remain steadfast under trials (James 1:12).
  
• Lord, help me to always be a doer of the Word, and not just a hearer (James 1:22-25).
  
• And Lord, please help me in my unbelief (Mark 9:24).

You know, the Bible says that Christ came to give us abundant life, but it takes shifting into alignment with Him and His Word to get there. The cool thing is that we can’t do this without His help… and He is always waiting in anticipation to help us! We can only follow Him as He shows us how, which makes the process of change all the more joyful in the end.

Ask Him for help today. I can’t recommend it highly enough. In fact, I’m gonna do it again myself right now.