How Followers of Christ Are to Respond to Trouble
Trouble is part of humanity. We are either in trouble, heading towards it, or stepping out of it. While some hardships are God ordained classrooms designed to strengthen and equip us as explained in my previous post Got Trouble? – Part 1, the primary source of many troubles is sin – that of others or our own.
A Fallen World
Obviously, we live in a fallen world among sinful people. After seeing David defeat Goliath, King Saul set David over Israel’s men of war. However, David excelled and began receiving more recognition and praise than Saul. Jealous and suspicious, Saul’s attitude toward David morphed from admiration to hate. On two occasions, David narrowly evaded Saul’s sword hurled at him. When messengers were sent to David’s home to kill him, again David escaped. Accepting the reality of Saul’s intent to destroy him, David was forced to flee from his family and friends. Like a fugitive, David moved from one hideout to another staying just ahead of Saul and the army ordered to eliminate him. Scripture reveals,” …Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand (1 Sam. 23:14b).”
Added to the daily weight of threat, David surely wrestled with the question,” Why me, Lord?” especially having previously been anointed by the prophet Samuel to one day be the new king of Israel. Had Saul’s corruption altered God’s plan? Did God still have a plan for David? What can we do when angry unreasonable people seem to be wrecking our lives and we, like Eve, hear the tempting whispers to doubt God?
When David faced his challenges, he went to God about it holding nothing back: “Deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. For behold, they lie in wait for my life; fierce men stir up strife against me. For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord, (Psa. 59:2-3).”
When trouble rains upon us because of someone else’s sin, we, like David, must take our emotions, thoughts, and uncertainties to God and ask Him for help. We must then lean in on Christ and determine to desire God’s glory more than our vindication. When we humble ourselves before God admitting we need His help and acknowledging we will accept His choice of outcome, we experience inner strength and peace beyond what we can explain and bewildering to those who do not know Christ.
The act that must follow the pouring out of our troubles to God is trust. David trusted God to be his refuge. After David expressed his grief being caused by Saul, David chose to trust God and determined “But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. “For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress (Psa. 59:16).”
Even on the run from Saul, David trusted God remembering God’s strength and lovingkindness. David trusted God to be his refuge.
Life’s hardships should slide us into the homeplate of prayer in which we tell God our struggles, trust Him with the outcome, and finally, thank Him for who He is. Though David faced life uncertain of his time as a fugitive, David still worshipped God proclaiming, “O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love (Psa. 59:17).”
Thanking and praising God can seem out of place and impossible when surrounded by trouble. However, God hands us keys to the prison doors of anxiety and fear when we worship Him and by faith thank Him that His holy merciful, loving, and kind character assures us He can be trusted.
When we experience struggle or suffering because of another’s sin, let us humbly unpack our anxiety and pain before God, unwaveringly accept His love for us, and thank Him for being trustworthy to hold us and walk us through the trouble.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison (2 Cor. 4:17)
A Guilty Plea
Undeniably, sinful people living in this fallen world cause us problems and pain. Yet, perhaps hardest to face, is trouble which results from our own sinful choices. Again, David’s life reveals the right path we must take when we are to blame for the calamity we face.
Eventually, David became the king of Israel. God blessed David by giving him victory over Israel’s enemies and promising David his throne would be established forever. David had learned many lessons from the Lord and proved himself obedient to God in many ways. However, like us, David was not perfect, and there came a time when David chose his way over God’s way.
Rather than fulfill his kingly role of going to the battlefield to lead and inspire his troops, a season of battle came in which David chose to stay home. Being idle is often a roadway to sin and such proved to be true for David. Catching a glimpse of Bathsheba, the wife of one of his soldiers, David decided he wanted her for himself. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. Subsequently, David married Bathsheba, and their son was born. David must have thought he had successfully hidden his sin because there were no immediate consequences. However, nothing is hidden from God, and when God confronted David with his sin through the prophet Nathan, David learned sin always has consequences.
Scripture details the death, deception, and destruction that plagued David and his family because of David’s sin. Thankfully, when David’s heart was finally convicted of his sin and he learned consequences would come, David turned back to God and prayed:
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment (Psa. 51:3-4).
Like David, we too, upon realizing our sin, must immediately admit that sin. You and I are called to agree with God over our sin and be grieved by it as He is.
When facing troubling circumstances due to our own sinfulness, confession of sin is not enough. We must also humbly ask God’s forgiveness with a heart intent on repentance and desiring reconciliation with our Lord. After David admitted his wrongdoing before God, he pleaded, “Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities (Psa. 51:9).
David implores God to forgive the sin and again see him as an obedient servant rather than a rebellious sinner. Asking God to forgive our sin is more than letting God know we are sorry. Requesting God’s forgiveness is also committing to God that we purpose in our heart and seek His help in not repeating the sin.
Confessing and asking forgiveness for our wrongs is sobering, but if the exercise leaves us convinced to walk closer with God, the struggle will have been well worth the treasure of God’s peace and wisdom to navigate us securely down the road of life. In contrast, should we as followers of Christ choose to continue in sin rather than sorrowfully admit our sin and seek God’s forgiveness, we can expect the unrest and anxiety that comes from going against what our Creator, our Savior, and the lover of our soul desires. Let’s not go there.
David admitted his sin, asked God to forgive him, and asked God to restore the nearness he had felt with God before his sin. Likewise, we must ask God’s help and purposefully walk with Him by reading His word, talking to Him in prayer, and living a life of obedience before Him. Only then can we know the peace and joy that God gives His people even amid trouble.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
A Plan of Action
When sorrow, fear, suffering, and other trouble roll into life, followers of Christ are called to respond rightly to those negative experiences as David did and grow stronger in our trust and closer in our walk with Christ. Therefore, let us face trouble determined to learn whatever lesson the Lord may have for us, to love God regardless of the unknowns, and to trust him with the outcome. If the darkness of this world and sinfulness of people deal us a blow, let us commit to run to God with our pain, trust His all-knowing nature and lovingkindness, and thank him for His sacrifice, the Holy Spirit, and promised inheritance awaiting us in heaven. If strife should come because we ourselves have fallen into temptation, we must confess our wrong to God, ask His forgiveness with a repentant heart, and be reconciled to our Lord. God is willing and able to transform our troubles into a treasury of relentless faith and more ardent love for Christ.
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
TheESVStudyBible:EnglishStandardVersion. Crossway Bibles, 2008.