What troubles you the most? And how do you handle trouble when it knocks on your front door?
Murphy’s Law says, “If anything can go wrong, it will.” And O’Toole’s Law says that Murphy was an optimist. Obviously both Murphy and O’Toole were pessimists. When you see only the dark side of life you are not likely to handle trouble very well.
The Bible teaches that Christians live in a fallen world and among a fallen race. We should, therefore, expect that life will not always be smooth. The only trouble-free world in which we will ever live will be our home in heaven (Revelation 21:3-5).
As the book of Job expressed life on planet earth, “Man is born for trouble, as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). More pointedly Christ warned His disciples, “In the world you have tribulation” (John 16:33).
No one is immune to the possibility of facing trouble – certainly not Christians. We, like everyone else, have difficulty with health, careers, children, parents, friends, neighbors, enemies, finances, automobiles, houses, plans, dreams and an endless number of other things that find their way onto the landscape of our lives.
Trouble comes from the fact that people lie, cheat, steal, gossip, covet and sow discord. People are also envious, jealous, angry and encounter expectations up to which no one can live. Rare is the person who has not been wounded in one way or another as a result of facing problems caused by one or more of these human frailties.
We not only live in an imperfect world, but we also are imperfect. If you could kick the person who causes most of your problems, you wouldn’t be able to sit down for a week! As the comic strip character Pogo said, “We have seen the enemy and it is us!” An old Black spiritual echoes this same thought, “It’s not my brother, nor my sister, but it’s me, O Lord; standing in the need of prayer.”
Jesus knew that those who live by the principles He taught would encounter opposition. That is why He said to His disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-20).
What we should remember, however, is that when Jesus warned us of the trouble we would face in a world where Satan is prince, He also said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace . . . take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). An anonymous poet expresses this thought extremely well:
“I want to let go, but I won’t let go
There are battles to fight,
By day and by night
For God and the right,
And I’ll never let go.
I want to let go, but I won’t let go,
May this be my song,
‘Mid legions of wrong:
O, God, keep me strong,
That I may never let go.”
In the face of the tensions and difficulties we face, Jesus Christ calls us to peace and a confidence that overcomes the pressures and pains that this world often causes us. Know this: If Christ’s peace and confidence are ours, we have absolutely nothing to fear and no reason to be discouraged – especially since we have an eternal home reserved for us where there will be no tension or trouble.
The triumph of peace available to every believer is the proof of eternity in our lives. With triumph already accomplished through Calvary’s cross and the empty tomb, we can live with a sense of peace and act with a conquering confidence in Christ.
The Paper Pulpit 
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