Trouble

By Lori Scharf

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A little while ago, I did a post about trust. This is sort of on the same note, since trusting God is a huge part of getting through times of trouble.

You see, there will be hard times.

I don’t care who you are or what your religion is, the truth is we live in a fallen world.

Wars. Sickness. Crime. Death. These are all things are happening all around as all the time.

But if God is good, why does He allow this to happen? He is all-powerful; He could make everything prefect and peaceful and whole again.

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31, ESV)

When God created the world, everything was good. Everything was perfect, whole, and without sin.

“But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:4-6, ESV)

Satan, the serpent, tempted Eve and she listened.

That day, man fell. We became unworthy to stand before God because we were tainted with sin.

From that day on, God said we would have trouble here on Earth.

Suddenly, there was sickness, lies, and even death.

But God didn’t want this for His creation. He wanted us to have a perfect life and a perfect relationship with Him, without sin getting in the way.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:16-17)

God sent his only son to redeem us, so we could live with Him in the perfect paradise he had planned all along.

However, Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection were only some of the steps in His ultimate plan. We still had a ways to go before He would bring us back to live with Him. In the meantime, we must still deal with the effects of sin in our world. The good news is, we now have the Word and the Hoy Spirit to comfort us along the way.

 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Jesus paid the price so we could one day live without trouble, but that time is not now.

Some will try to say that is you just love God enough and live ‘good’ enough, you will not encounter hardships.

This is simply false.

God uses trouble to teach us and help us grow in Him, but also as a reminder that this is not our true home.

The only scars in Heaven
They won’t belong to me and you
There’ll be no such thing as broken
And all the old will be made new

– Scars in Heaven, Casting Crowns

Until next time,

– Lori