When trouble comes

If you are a regular visitor to our website, you may have wondered why there was no new page last week. That's because I had a little surprise Sunday afternoon: I stepped up on a stool to get something down and felt something rip inside under my heel. The resulting pain put me out of commission for awhile. After one doctor visit and X-rays, I am waiting to see a podiatrist this week to get the verdict, but my guess is that I tore the plantar fascia in my foot. I am staying off my foot and hobbling pretty badly when I do have to move around.

That got me thinking more about what my reaction is when troubles come my way. It is an inevitable part of life that we face problems from time to time. Accidents happen, sickness strikes, people betray and hurt us; there are floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and more every year. Sometimes we are able to escape relatively unscathed, other times we are not so fortunate. It is easy to rail against people or governments or even God because of the suffering we see and endure. We feel out of control and want someone to pay for the pain we feel. 

Where is God when trouble comes? If God loves me, why doesn't he protect me and shield me from pain? There was a time in my life when I struggled with those questions. The longer I follow him and the more I get to know him, however, the less I find myself asking "why" when things happen.

The reality is that we live in a world that is broken and separated from God, and as a result, bad things happen. I have no doubt at all that God has protected and shielded me from harm many times. As an infant, I was very ill, and the doctors initially told my mother I just had a bad cold. Something (or someone) told her that it was more and she persisted in pestering the doctors until they discovered that my appendix had burst. In operating to take care of that, they discovered and removed a tumor that otherwise would have gone undetected until it was too late. There have been many other times when I can see that God was protecting me and preserved my life, too many to recount here.

That does not mean he has spared me from all pain, however. When I was traveling with a music group one summer during college, I slipped and fell down a flight of stairs, badly spraining my ankle. I have been through automobile and bus accidents, lost friends to sickness and accidents, and had to have emergency surgery. I have wept by the bedside of family and friends who died of cancer in spite of many prayers on their behalf. No, following God does not ensure a pain-free life. In spite of that, I still find comfort in the psalm that I quoted in my last article, Psalm 91:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,  nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the LORD, who is my refuge—then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." 

In this psalm., God does not say that he would spare us from all trouble; trouble is part of life, unfortunately. He says instead that he will be with us in trouble, that in the midst of the trouble he will deliver us and protect us. God has indeed been with me in every problem that has come my way; I know that I can rely upon him all the time, because he is good and his love endures forever.

If you are facing difficulty or anything else that you would like prayer for, please send us a note at prayer@g3-rains.com, or fill out the contact form on our Contact page. Your prayer request, as well as your comments, will be kept confidential, and you will not be added to any mailing lists.

March 2, 2008