Three Reasons For Trouble
A lot of people don’t like to hear this but sometimes God allows trouble to come into our lives. One need only to look at the life of Job to realize that God does this from time to time. I believe there are three reasons God allows trouble to come to us. One is…He’s preparing us for what’s coming. Why is there Spring Training in baseball? Why are there Preseason workouts and two-a-days in the blazing hot summer for football? To get the players ready for the actual season that is still to come. Does the military just throw otherwise able-bodied men into the conflict of service? No, they first run them through “basic training†to prepare them for their real service.
I had a friend of mine when I was in high school. His dad owned a jewelry store where we lived. We visited that store often. This guy’s dad had solid white hair. I now know (with the perspective of years) that at the time I was visiting his store he was probably younger than I am right now. One day he was talking about the rigors of his basic training in the army. I (being a stupid teen-ager) said, “That must be where that white hair came from, the toughness of basic training.†He became very serious as he looked at me and said, “No, Son. Basic training didn’t give me this white hair. World War II gave me this white hair!â€
The difficult thing that you’re going through…that trouble you’re facing…don’t be so quick to get mad at God for allowing it to come. He could be putting you “through the paces†so you will be prepared for the REAL battle that’s much tougher than this so you’ll be prepared when it comes.
Secondly, I believe He allows trouble to come in order to test us. When we were in school (if we’re honest) our least favorite part was test day. You know what, though? The teacher didn’t just give a test to determine whether we passed or failed the subject. They gave us the test to determine whether we had retained what we were supposed to have learned to see if we could move forward. There’s no sense going to what’s next if we haven’t yet retained the knowledge and skill we are supposed to have learned in the previous lesson. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Don’t put that on your car as a bumper sticker until you have passed the test that lets you know for a certainty that it’s true!
Thirdly, God will allow trouble to come to chasten us. Scripture tells us that the Lord chastens those He loves. Now we don’t like that but listen; chastening from the Lord is one of the things that prove we’re SAVED! I run into people all the time who tell me they’re not sure they’re saved. I ask them: “Is God chastening you?†If He IS, then that’s a sign you ARE indeed one of His children. As His children we are called to live our lives according to HIS will for us.  When we began to follow our own desires and leave His will for us then He will chasten us to get us away from where we ARE and take us BACK to where we are supposed to be!
Don’t get mad when God allows trouble to come. Just realize that it’s all part of His perfect plan for your life and that He’s using it to build you into what HE wants you to be.
First published by SGN Scoops digital magazine in February 2015.
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