By TONY HOSS
There is no doubt that everyone has troubles; some of these are presumed, while others are real. It is not that we have trouble in life, but how we react to trouble that is important. Our reaction to trouble is not only important to us but our reaction is important to those we are examples before.
We should never think that we alone have problems and that ours are worse than anyone else’s. Oftentime individuals wish they could switch places with others whom they feel have fewer problems. How foolish this thought is in light of the fact that that same person may have a multitude of problems as yet unseen. It was once said, “I was sad I had no shoes until I saw someone who had no feet.”
Regardless of our problems we should remember the words of the apostle Paul. He said, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13). Simply put, God will not give us more than we can handle. As we consider the words of Paul we should remember Job. While Satan tempted Job, God limited his ability to harm Job. God in His wisdom knew what Job could withstand. The same is true for each of us today. Surely in this we can see the divine and providential care of God for each of us.
Most people think they can pray to God and all problems in life should be removed. This is not the way things always work. God does not always remove all trials and give us every blessing we seek in life. Oftentime, those with little wish or pray for more. Some people often seek to be like the rich and famous of this world; those who we see as celebrities. But perhaps God knows we couldn’t handle the problems that are associated with being a rich and famous celebrity. Consider some of those who seem to have everything; they also have a multitude of social, family, legal and financial problems.
Rather than focusing on asking God to remove from our lives the trials we face, perhaps we should pray to God for strength and wisdom on how to deal with our problems and afflictions. It seems that we think God is here to serve us when our lives go awry. We should remember that we are here to serve God, our creator. It is Satan’s ploy to cause us through trials and temptations to turn from God when we should be turning to Him. We should remember that we are in a spiritual war and when we turn our back on Satan and have faith in God, we win the little battles in life. However we should also remember that there is always one more battle to win.
I often think of Queen Ester in the Bible and the issues that she and all Jews were facing during her life. Mordecai simply stated to her, “who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” While we think we have all the answers of life we simply do not. It is God who knows and understands our problem better than we. We should seek to handle the problems of life with grace and dignity seeking to honor God. We should do this because He knows our issues in life and can use them to bring about His purpose in our lives. Paul said, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28 KJV).
While we should not like the trials and temptations we have in life we should still thank God for them in light of the fact that God can bring good from them in His own time and way. Perhaps we should ask what good thing God is accomplishing through the trials in our lives.
(Tony Hoss is minister at the Centerview Church of Christ, Elizabethton. He can be contacted at (423-518-1919); e-mail CenterviewCOC@comcast.net)