JANUARY 17, 2013
Trouble
Read: John 16:25-33
In the world you will
have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world. —John 16:33
I
was glad to see the final days of the year draw to a close. It had held so much
sorrow, sickness, and sadness. I was ready to welcome January with its very
own
brass band!
But
as the first month of the new year arrived, so did one bit of sad news after
another.
Several friends lost their parents. My dad’s brother slipped away in his
sleep.
Friends discovered they had cancer. A colleague’s brother and a friend’s
son
both died tragically and abruptly. Rather than the sad times ceasing, the
new
year seemed to bring a whole new tsunami of sorrow.
John
16:33 tells us, “In the world you will have tribulation.” Even God’s children
are not
promised a life of ease, of prosperity, nor of good health. Yet we are
never
alone in our trouble. Isaiah 43:2 reminds us that when we pass through
deep
waters, God is with us. Although we don’t always understand God’s
purposes in
the trials we experience, we can trust His heart because we know Him.
Our
God is a God of abundant love and “neither death nor life. . . nor things
present
nor things to come [will ever] separate us from the love of God which
is in
Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39). When trouble comes, His presence
is His
promise.
Swift cometh His answer, so clear and so sweet;
“Yea, I will be with thee, thy troubles to meet;
I will not forget thee, nor fail thee, nor grieve;
I will not forsake thee, I never will leave.” —Flint
Faith is believing that God is present
when all we hear is silence.
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
