If you've been following this ministry for some
time, you've heard me say it not once, but literally
hundreds of times, that no matter what your troubles
are, as long as God is still on His throne, and
His unanswered prayer, And just so long as your
faith in him is still intact, everything will
come out all right. Remember something. I do
not just say those words. I believe that statement
with every atom of my being. Trouble has a way
of stalking down the road and meeting us so many
times when we least expect it. And it may befall
us without our being personally or even directly
the cause of it. And many, many times, trouble
is beyond our control. But we should remember
that trouble, as well as the hours of sunshine,
is a part of divine arrangement and has a place
in our program, in our living, in our lives,
in the shaping of our lives, in making character.
Trouble and severe testings are not necessarily
a sign of sin or of failure. or a lack of spirituality.
I'm saying something today that I want you never
to forget. Remember that very often, trouble
is a sign of spirituality. It's a sign of growth,
which God must test and prove, for never forget,
we are His workmanship. The cruelest thing that
anyone can do is to say when trouble and sorrow
and affliction comes into the life of a Christian
that is because of some sin in that life and
that one is very quick to judge that one. Nothing
could be farther from the truth. On the other
hand, Many people have gotten the notion that
the life of a Christian is or should be somewhat
of a charmed life, void of trouble, void of testing,
tribulation, and suffering. Such people have
shaped up for themselves or they hold as an ideal
of real Christian living an absolutely impossible
and unscriptural conception as an objective.
And where in the world such people have been
living all of these years, I do not know. For
surely they do not know history. They do not
know Christian experience or the Bible. Because
the Word of God teaches, man is born into trouble,
and as the sparks fly upward, as found in Job,
Here's another scripture. Many are the afflictions
of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him
out of them all. Go a little further in the word.
For our light affliction, which is but for a
moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. Go a little deeper.
Into the word, yea, and all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. That's
not all. In the world ye shall have tribulation,
but be of good cheer. Jesus said, I have overcome
the world. Don't stop there. Go to the fifth
chapter of Romans. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation
worketh patience. You know, as Christians, after
we're convinced in our hearts that trouble is
not designed to defeat us, is not a mere nuisance
or a cruelty, but is one of the corrective elements
in great living, then we must needs learn how
to use it. And that's exactly what I want to
talk about today. You and I must learn how to
use trouble. How many problems would be solved
and shipwrecks of faith be avoided? If only we
could take a positive, a constructive attitude
and see that trouble is one of the agents. Trouble
can be a mighty instrument that's placed in our
hands for the shaping of character and the releasing
of potential power for correct and glorious building.
Oh, trouble can literally be an angel in disguise.
You never thought of it as such. How do you use
trouble? How did you use that trouble when it
came to you a year ago, six months ago, yesterday?
Trouble is not to be reasoned with. You simply
cannot reason with trouble. utterly unreasonable.
She is to be used. Please disabuse your minds
of the erroneous thought that if you are good
or if you are a really spiritual Christian, totally
yielded and consecrated, that your life is therefore
to be a charmed one. and that God will spare
you from trouble and from disappointment. No,
my friend. To reach such a fine place of consecration
and yieldedness is only to make you a fit candidate
for tribulation. Tribulation is a word that God
uses in relation to saints. And the word means
threshing. The farmer does not thresh weeds.
He threshes the golden wheat that the grain may
be separated from the sticks and the stubble
and the chafe. He's after grain. The farmer is
after grain. The Heavenly Father is after grain.
not trying to pound out some straw. Therefore,
God says, tribulation worketh patience, that
is, the golden grain of patience, long -suffering,
and kindness comes by way of threshing our tribulation
and trouble. Think the spendage spiritual grain
of character and noble living produced only through
the tribulation and trouble process. The spiritual
tone and quality of the mighty men of God came
only through trouble, came only through suffering.
Ask Paul, one of the greatest examples of suffering
and of trouble. Do not misunderstand me. I'm
not saying that trouble alone makes us strong
or noble, or that it alone has a transforming
power. That's not what I'm saying. I'm dealing
with you as Christians who believe the 8th chapter
of Romans, the 28th verse. And that text, as
you see it, is never to be applied to lives which
are not surrendered. That's why many unsaved
people never quite understand the outworking
of the Scriptures in the daily walk. But if the
Christian has anything remotely opposing the
Spirit of Christ, he can make trouble a servant
to bring forth the best in him. Beloved, be careful
how you act when trouble comes. Trouble in itself
is neutral or passive. The whole matter depends
upon how we use it. It makes all the difference
in the world as to how you use trouble. trouble
when it comes into that life of yours. And if
you are a part of humanity, you will have trouble.
I don't care who you are. You will have trouble.
And the whole matter depends on how you use that
trouble. You've noticed in lives a Two -fold
reaction to trouble or tragedy. Either it will
break us in spirit, melting the hardness and
bringing us into our helplessness to God. It
can make us a bigger, a better person. Or it'll
throw us upon our own feeble resources and human
reasonings. And I told you a minute ago, trouble
cannot be reasoned with. And if you throw that
trouble upon your own feeble resources and human
reasonings, this in turn will harden you in spirit.
It'll make you critical and often cynical. And
I meet folk like that every day of my life. It
robs the heart of the great privilege of trusting
God and the developing of the life into rich
and helpful avenues. Be careful how you act when
trouble comes. You've got to face it. You have
to do something about it. You can't just sweep
it under the rug. and act as though it never
happened. It'll either make you a cynical person,
a bitter person, or it will mean a growth in
character and a deeper spiritual life. Trouble
will either make you bitter or better. You're
never quite the same. No person can ever be the
same. When trouble comes into his life, it will
either make you bitter or better. And notice
how very much alike these words are and how very
little is needed to change them. Just... The
letter I. Yes, it is the I that changes the whole
matter. When the I keeps out of the question,
out of the difficulty, life would be better.
But when the I is introduced and we get mixed
in the troubled life, we become bitter. We become
hard. We become critical. We become cynical.
Too many times his eye gets in the way. The poor
little hurt eagle gets a slap, and down the street
he runs, screaming for attention. The dear little
eagle sits in his doorway and weeps tears of
self -pity. until his eyes are so red and inflamed
that he just cannot see things as they are or
should be. It takes a quiet heart, peace of spirit,
and clear vision, and a long rain. Remember that
long range. You and I are not living just for
today. We're not living for just this hour. We
must have a clear vision, a long range to interpret
trouble in terms of strength and high living.
Little souls, small people, are usually hurt
all the time. They get their feelings hurt almost
instantly with the smallest things. Little souls.
Undeveloped souls. Small people get hurt. Easily.
The ego within is unduly important and consequently
is easily hurt or flattered. Such souls had too
small a world in which they're living. Oh, their
world is so small. They must have everything
revolving around them. And hence everything relates
directly to the self within. though if you will
please, one of the greatest examples I know anything
about was Job. Do you want to see a really big
man? How do I know? Because the Word of God tells
us that Job was perfect and upright and one that
feared God and hated evil. Read it yourself.
It'll do you good. His cattle were rustled by
cattle rustlers. Talk about trouble, and you
think you've had trouble. His horses were stolen
by horse thieves. His cowboys were killed by
the rustlers. His sheep were struck by lightning,
and his shepherds were all killed, all but one.
His camels were stolen and all the keepers were
killed except just one. And you think you've
had trouble. His sons and daughters were all
killed by a cyclone. Job rent his garments, shaved
his head, fell on the ground, and worshipped.
This is the word of God. This is a man with like
passions as you. I'm amazed. I am awed. In the
light of all of this, I wonder if I really trust
God the way I should. I wonder what I would have
done under those circumstances. After all of
this happened, the word said he rent his garments,
shaved his head, fell on the ground, and worshipped.
He sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Nor
charged God foolishly, but worshipped him. Was
that all? No. His body was covered with ulcers
like boils, and he sat in ashes to soak up the
secretion. And then of all things, here comes
his wife. Of all things, his wife. And do you
know what she said? Why do you hold on to your
faith? Curse God and die. Just go ahead. Curse
God and die. Go ahead. Go ahead. Die. And then
the last thing. His friends rebuked him and forsook
him. What would you have done under those circumstances?
It was dark. It was very dark. But always remember
that as sure as there's the midnight hour, morning
will come. It can be so dark at three o 'clock.
It can be so dark at four o 'clock. But remember,
hold on. Morning will come. Morning always comes,
and morning came for Job. Finish the book, if
you will, please, at 42nd chapter and the 10th
verse. He was blessed with twice what he had
before. Be careful how you act. when troubles
come. Be careful. When troubles come, that, my
friend, is the time to trust God, the one who
never makes a mistake.