Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble,” and we might say that’s really an understatement of our struggles in this life. Trouble comes in such a variety of forms and degrees and long-term effects. The troubles we face are like the waves lined up in rows coming to shore, they just keep coming. No matter how far you walk down the shoreline, they are there.
Here is the reality when it comes to trouble in our lives—there are some people who invite trouble, like Jonah. He knew what God was telling him to do, but decided to go in another direction. Jonah actually invited trouble due to his disobedience. Some people have trouble in their lives because they live with or are closely connected to people like Jonah.
Then there are some people who make trouble wherever they go. They are constantly stirring things up and causing strife and arguments. We call them troublemakers, and the world is full of them. Troublemakers will always find something wrong and it’s like they live to disturb the peace. Many troublemakers were raised up by parents who were troublemakers, and so the cycle of contention gets passed on. Troublemakers can really only live in peace when everyone around them submits and agrees to their demands.
Some invite trouble, some are troublemakers, and then some, like Job, experience and endure trouble and live to testify to the faithfulness of God in their trouble. If anyone could ever say, “I’ve had some trouble in my life,” it would certainly be Job who had everything he held dear in his life stripped away. His wife and friends couldn’t help him in his trouble, but he still got through it. Job didn’t know the first and last part of John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Job didn’t invite trouble, nor did he make trouble, but he got more than his fair share. What did Job have to say about the troubles in life?
Jesus Christ also experienced and endured more trouble than anyone who ever lived. But Jesus did something with trouble, He took it to the cross so that we can have peace even in the presence of our trouble. The key to having peace in the presence of trouble is to be “in Him” when trouble comes.
