"In this world you will have trouble..." John 16:33 (NIV)
Problems. Issues. Troubles. Beefs. Hurts. Griefs. Gripes....
Call
it whatever you want to call it...Fact of the matter is, we will all
have them at one time or another. That's just one of those things that
comes along with being human. Being a Christian doesn't exempt us from
trials & tribulations. In fact, sometimes, it will seem more like '...how many are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me!' Psalm 3:1 Anyone who says 'oh I never have any kind of trouble/problem/issue, etc....is a liar! So there's their trouble/problem/issue right there! :)
Let me tell you a story....
Once
upon a time there was a woman. All in all, she led a very happy
life...a roof over her head, food on her table, shoes...sometimes even
very cute ones...on her feet. But this woman had a problem. An issue
that was unresolved from her past, causing hurt in her present, and
affecting her future.
At first, the problem was fairly
small. More of an inconvenience really. So she would push the problem to
the background and be happy for a while.
But then there
were the days when the problem was all she could think of. It would
block out all the good in her life, and in would rush the depression,
despair, anger, hurt, until all she could think about was finding a
solution for her problem.
Of course, she prayed.
(She knew & still knows the value of prayer). She would beg God for
the solution...or at least the solution SHE thought was best....but in
the end, when the answer she sought did not come, she began to try to
'help' the situation, by looking for any and all means to an end to
solve her problem.
The Problem (for now it was not nearly a
problem, little 'p', but it had grown to an Important Thing with a
capital 'P') began to take front stage center. It began to bleed into
and affect every area of her life. Her marriage, her other familial
relationships, her activities in her church. Nothing else seemed to
matter anymore but finding a solution to her Problem. Friends &
activities she used to enjoy and that brought her joy, soon fell by the
wayside. Friends & family whose words of advice she once appreciated
& trusted now seemed to just irritate, hurt, and 'be against her'.
In her mind, troubled though it may have been, if she enjoyed
these things, these friends, then she was ignoring the problem and
being fake. If she submitted, if she gave in to the things that once
brought her such joy, gave in to what those who loved her asked of her,
she would have to admit that the solution she had come up with to her problem was wrong.
And that right there is the problem with problems, the issue with issues and the trouble with troubles. It doesn't come in the having them....it
comes from the trying to get rid of them. From the trusting that a
solution to that problem, issue or trouble can come from anything but
God.
A problem can be like an itty bitty pebble stuck in
your shoe while going on a 5 mile walk. That first few steps...its just
annoying. But the more it rubs against your foot, the more you notice
it. By the time you get to the 5 mile mark (IF you don't give up along
the way!) that pebble has become a huge stone and your joy from
finishing the walk is diminished by the pain of getting there. Along
the route, bystanders are shouting encouragement, and all you can think
about is 'But they don't know about the rock in my shoe!!' so you discount their words, and think, 'They just don't understand'.
So
you try to explain to the bystanders the problem with the rock and get
the suggestion 'Just take the rock out of your shoe!' While this seems
simple enough, instead of encouraging you, the suggestion rankles &
ruffles your feathers. What?? Do they think you LIKE
having a rock in your shoe?? And don't they know that if you have to
stop & shake out your shoe, then everyone will KNOW you had a rock
in there...and the others in the 5 mile walk may get ahead of you if you
stop now...and...and...and...
On and on it goes & the rock grows...
When
a problem grows, even if its only growing in your own mind, it slowly
cuts off that lifeline of joy, until you are left with just existing.
Problems crop up in your family that have never been there before.
Church attendance becomes a trial because every word you hear seems like
its aimed directly for your toes. Messages that come across
the pulpit rub the wrong way, giving more cause for grief. You start
cutting back on your worship because, after all, you do not want it to
seem like you agree with the things being said, for goodness
sake! Everything you once enjoyed is colored & viewed through the
perspective of the problem, robbing you of the peace, joy & beauty
that Truth brings. You push Truth to the side because it does not fit
with your current view of reality, your own 'truth'. You ignore that
little niggling in your spirit that you might possibly, maybe, be in the wrong, and come up with all manner of arguments (some of which are even really good!!) to support 'your side'.
Just ask the woman in the story. She's been there. But the good news is that she did not STAY there. She had someone to remind her that God
is the reason to attend church...not people. By choosing not to
worship, not to participate, not to use the gifts that God had given
her, she was only hurting herself...and
telling God that he was not worthy enough of her praise for her to set
aside her 'pride' and her 'problems' to focus on worshiping Him.
And it was just that simple. Once she could grasp that simple fact....That God deserves our praise no matter what else is going on in our lives...the
stranglehold that her problem had on her life was loosed and she was
once again able to feel that Joy Unspeakable that comes from loving
& serving God.
Notice I did NOT say that her problem was gone. It was not getting a solution to her problem that allowed her to live the life that God means for her to have. It was getting her problem in perspective!
I began this writing with this.."In this world you will have trouble..." John 16:33 (NIV).
But that's not all that verse says! The whole verse says this...
"I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV).
If
we could truly grasp that concept...If we could magnify God instead of
our problems...If we could really truly remember that God has never ever
done nothing but GOOD to us, then we won't
allow our problems, issues, hurts, troubles, pain, disappointments,
beefs, gripes, etc, to get between us & God.
And
getting between us & God...well...that's the problem with problems,
the issue with issues & the trouble with troubles!
