Trouble is defined many different ways because it is subjective and personal. To some of us it means addiction, traumatic injury, infidelity, a car wreck, a scary diagnosis, wayward child or job loss. Distress is measured by the degree of discord sewn into our lives. Trouble is synonymous with storms because they disrupt our joy and harmony. Be assured, that we all have storms and none of us are immune. The Bible illustrates many before us who weathered unimaginable storms yet went on to do good works despite their torment. These illustrations prove Father God’s unending grace and purpose on our lives. Oddly, the very circumstance that devastates one person is perceived as merely an inconvenience by another. Trust turns the unbearable traumatic life event into a teachable moment and eventually a testimony.
One such Biblical illustration of how even the righteous suffer is the story of Job. Stripped of his possessions and his family only then to be afflicted. His steadfast and unyielding faith gradually faded into resentment of God. Job had convinced himself that his afflictions served no purpose. He concluded that God was simply treating him unfairly despite his faith. His time was spent fault finding God rather than looking for life lessons within his trials. His closed mind dismissed the possibility that he could learn something valuable from his suffering. Eventually, Job came to understand that the basis of his problem was his lack of understanding and his own excessive righteousness. Only then could his view of God’s fairness and purpose change. His critical attitude towards God was wrong and got Job nowhere positive. We should never assume God isn’t listening to our cries or that he just doesn’t care. His word demonstrates that truth repeatedly.
Job’s experiences help explain how the righteous endure discouraging and traumatic times and can be tempted to resent God for not intervening on their behalf. Like Job, we often fail to understand that our Father sees lessons we still need to learn that are beyond our present understanding. Job’s experience is recorded in great detail so we can learn from his mistakes an avoid holding too high an opinion of ourselves. We’ve learned that pride goes before destruction and typically stems from fear. That same fear provokes us to question God as to why the storms happen to us. It would behoove us to learn from Job’s experiences. If God didn’t already know we would be fearful, there wouldn’t be 365 scriptures about trusting him. Feeling anxious is human. Anxiety stems from fear which is the opposite of trust. The key seems to be moving our focus from anxiety, also known as fear and then becomes the task of not allowing water into our boats. Christ wants us to be free and peaceful.
Lastly, as storms rage in your life and they will, remember that maintaining unwavering respect and trust in God even in the midst of our most immense sufferings will bring us only his blessings. Perspective makes all the difference in how strong and wise we become as a result. So many calamities and sufferings become our testimony down the road. Asking ourselves whether our actions demonstrate faith or doubt in his word can serve as a bump on the head used to re-center us. Two unchanging truths, are that every storm runs out of rain and God allowed each storm to happen. Never forget the winds, and waves still know his name. Choose to trust our lighthouse in the storm as he loves and protects us still.
Related scripture: Mark 4:39, Isaiah 25:4 , Matthew 7:24-27 , Joshua 1:9, Proverbs 1:27, 2 Timothy 1:7 , James 5:10-11, Isaiah 55:8-9, Psalm 37:5,Psalm 112:7, Psalm 84:12, Proverbs 3:5-6, 2 Samuel 22:3
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