Trouble, Wisdom & Joy

Trouble, Wisdom & Joy

When reflecting upon and giving encouraging advice for living the Christian life, James suggested a practical application of how we should respond to the challenges that inevitably arise in life:

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1 v 3 – 4

Nobody would deliberately go looking for trouble, hardship, difficulties, or conflict. And yet without actively pursuing them, they sometimes find us. But within every crisis is an opportunity to grow and celebrate the benefits of growing within our faith and character – both spiritually and naturally, that is if we allow our lives to be governed by the leading of our Father God’s Holy Spirit.

When presented with an unexpected challenge or crisis, our Father God waits expectantly for us to come to Him. We ask for His help by asking Him for the grace of His wisdom to overcome and conquer. And that can only happen when we make a conscious decision to trust in Him and Him alone to provide us with His wisdom to proceed and succeed.

“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.” James 1 v 5 – 8

The stresses and anxieties begin and magnify when we say we trust our Father God but continue to keep hold of the reins of control while we try and work through the issues of life alone or on the ill-advice of others, often making the situation worse. Following bad advice was evident in the life of a man named King Rehoboam.

King Rehoboam did not learn from the wisdom that our Father God had given to his father King Solomon. When the people came to King Rehoboam asking him for relief from their burdens and hard work, he took counsel from two sets of advisers. It is recorded in the Book of 1 Kings 12 that:

“King Rehoboam consulted with the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How do you advise me to respond to these people? He asked. They replied, “If you will be a servant to these people and serve them, this day, and if you will respond by speaking kind words to them, they will be your subjects forever,” But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders, instead he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him. He asked them “What message do you advice that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying “Lighten the yoke your father put on us?” The young men who had grown up with him replied “This is how you should answer these people who said to you “Your father made our yoke heavy, but you should make it lighter. This is what you should tell them: “My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! Where my father has burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions.” 1 Kings 12 v 6 – 11

The first advised leniency and compassionate kindness and the second advised brutality and increased hardship. Foolishly choosing to follow the wrong advice made the situation worse, not so much for the people, but more so for King Rehoboam. Rejecting godly wisdom caused the people to reject Rehoboam as king and the kingdom was divided in two because of how he handled the crisis. The choices we make and advice we choose to follow can be devastating if we are outside the will and nature of our Father God. Follow His counsel through the wise people He surrounds your life with and always show kindness and compassion towards others.

How we respond to trouble as a Christian requires a positive mindset. As we go through times of testing it produces our testimony of deliverance. Our testimonies are intended to encourage and strengthen others and bring glory to our Father God’s Name. We are not called to be reactionary like the world. We are called to rejoice and bring a sacrifice of praise, even when things seem hard and the pressure to overcome seems insurmountable. The Bible is filled with testimony after testimony of overcomers. King David declared to his Father God:

“You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great.” Psalm 18 v 35

King David faced many challenges to his life, to his throne and to his dynasty, but He always looked to His Father God to be his constant help and shield. He never made a move without the leadership of God as first in his life. And neither should we.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied in the Name of the Lord saying:

“O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? Have you not heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youth will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not grow faint.” Isaiah 40 v 27 – 31

When we overcome the urge and propensity to doubt our Father God, we are inviting Him to exchange our weak feebleness for His strength to endure. From the outside looking in people marvel at how, in a season of calamity and challenge, we can be thriving in our spirit with life and vitality.

“But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you, O Israel, the One who formed you says “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not down. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.” Isaiah 43 v 1 – 2

God spoke to an individual while also addressing a nation. He called them by their name because He knew them personally. His promises to them were based on a covenant relationship in which He contracted His presence and His protection if they obediently and willingly exchanged their fear for His trust. You need to know today that our Father God knows your name and He wants you to experience His presence and His protection too.

The prophet Isaiah also prophesied:

“For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” Isaiah 41 v 3

Again, the prophet Isaiah prophesied:

“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn grey. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and deliver you. Isaiah 46 v 3 – 4.

Our Father God encouraged the people whom He rescued from out of their troubles. In times of turmoil we need to put our hand in the hand of our Father God. Let Him lead and guide you. He knows the way out of trouble. He previously made the same promises in Psalm 91:

“The Lord says “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in My Name. When they call on Me, I will answer; I will rescue and honour them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.” Psalm 91 v 15 – 16

Our Father God, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, makes the same promise to us when we love Him and faithfully trust Him to bring us through difficult and challenging seasons in our lives. Then like Nehemiah we can say:

“Do not be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8 v 10

That joy and that strength become accessible to us when we decide to trust wholeheartedly in the Lord. You can only truly trust Him when you walk in relationship and fellowship with Him.

King Solomon asked our Father God for wisdom to lead and govern a nation. He did not want to deal with the same rebellious problems that Moses had to deal with. Moses was faced with a nation who complained, grumbled, got angry and plotted against him every time things, from their perspective, went wrong. Our Father God answered King Solomon’s prayer. He equipped him with His wisdom to lead and govern effectively. This is part of the learning of that wisdom that King Solomon shared with us:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.” Proverbs 3 v 5 – 6

Trusting requires cooperation! When you put your hand in the hand of our Father God, you are engaging in a collaborative spiritual partnership, recognising the Lordship of Him as being supreme and bigger than your crisis.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied in the Name of the Lord saying:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55 v 8

So, choose to trust Him instead of trying to work through issues on your own. Be led by His Holy Spirit.

It takes humility to die to one’s own pride and recognise one’s need of our Father God’s help and intervention when we cannot overcome difficulties or resolve problems ourselves. It is His love that draws us in humility towards Him. Like a good earthly father who directs and helps his children, so too our heavenly Father promises us even greater help.

In his first letter to Peter, the Apostle Peter said:

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5 v 6 – 7

Give Him your anxieties and your fears. Throw them off and be free.

When writing his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul said:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1 v 7

We are empowered to know and believe that our Father God loves us enough to give us peace in every situation. Today it is for us to activate and embrace that peace through faith in Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord, Saviour, and eternal King.

In the first chapter of the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John wrote down our Father God’s description of Himself:

“I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1 v 8

In revealing who He is ‘the great I AM’, God confirms that He is not taken by surprise by any of the events that occur in our lives. He knows the beginning from the end, so all our in between is already written down and known by Him. So, trust Him. He does not change. He is our constant friend and help in a time of need. Knowing this, we can be like King David, who in his own troubles considered his trials as opportunities to find great joy. In one of his songs of rejoicing he said:

“O God, You are my God. Earnestly I seek You. My soul thirst for You. My body yearns for You in a dry and weary land without water. So, I have seen You in the sanctuary and beheld You power and glory. Because You loving kindness is better than life, my lips will glorify You. So, I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift my hands. My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You. When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night. For You are my help; I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You’ Your right hand upholds me. Psalm 63 v 1 – 4

We read of the impact within King David’s life of trusting and clinging to God his Deliverer in a place of lack and a place of challenges. He chose to use his will to pursue his Lord wholeheartedly. He chose to use his body as an instrument of praise. If he awoke in the middle of the night, he chose to use his mind to meditate on God’s faithfulness and not to focus on his fear. Let us follow his example as we remember again the words of James:

Amen xxx