The Day Of Trouble

Days of trouble come for everyone. The righteous and the unrighteous. The rich and the poor. The famous and the obscure. Nobody is immune. At some point we are all bound to have days of trouble.

Days of trouble come in different shapes. For one person it might mean the diagnosis of a terminal illness for themselves or a close family member. Either way this is a hard road. It is hard for the critically ill because their day of trouble turns into more like days of trouble. A routine of doctor visits, treatments and continually not feeling well follow. It is also difficult for the caregiver. They give and give. They serve the ill slowly watching their health and vitality ebb away. It is draining.

Days of trouble for others mean trying to find employment. In a competitive marketplace where there are so many qualified candidates it is harder to get your foot in the door. Maybe you are one of those who has been turned down time and again for jobs you thought you were qualified for. Resumes, job applications interviews have not brought you any closer to employment. Added to this is the mounting financial strain. You are exasperated.

The day of trouble might look like a job reassignment you did not ask for nor want. Supervisors made such reassignments numb to your thoughts and feelings. You need work so you go along in a position you feel ill fitted for. You try to make the best of a bad situation but the truth is you are miserable. Work that once brought you a sense of fulfillment now only brings drudgery daily.

How many feel trapped in loveless marriages. Or worse feel betrayed by the one who covenanted with you before God to stay "until death do we part." You are left with a hole in your heart and a mind full of memories. You have wept until you have no more tears to cry. The life and joy have been sucked right out of you. You still have responsibilities but find yourself going through the motions.

Maybe you are in such poverty you see no way out. You fight starvation. You shuffle through life aimlessly hollow eyed because there is not enough food. What others throw away after a meal you would consider a gourmet meal. Nobody notices. Nobody seems to care. Here in the land of plenty you cannot find enough food. You are always hungry and worse yet so are your loved ones. You are willing to work but nobody will hire you. You have swallowed your pride and dignity to ask for help but many ignore you.

Your day of trouble could be a dark and clouded mind of depression. Such a deep despair hangs over you it is a struggle to find reasons to keep wanting to live. Ending it all creeps into your thoughts more frequently. It is tempting but for some reason you keep hanging on.  with the flickering thought that things will get better but they never do.

Still others battle mental illness. They lose touch with reality. Psychotic episodes lead to bizarre thoughts and behavior. Loved ones stand by helplessly and at times hopelessly unable to fix the situation. Therapy and medications do not always help. This is another day of trouble.

Psalm 50:15 (NKJV)
15  Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

The word call in this verse means to cry out and to beseech. How many of you have cried out to God until you do not have another prayer to pray. You have asked for His help. You have screamed for His intervention. Desperately you have begged, pleaded and maybe even tried to bargain for God's help.

Let me say that God is not a God who has to be bargained with. He loves people. He loves you and your loved ones even if it does not appear that way. You may ask why you have cried out for His help but He has refused. I honestly do not know the answer to that. I too have cried out for His help and intervention for years and on many occasions nothing changed. At times things actually got worse.

He invites us to call upon Him. He doesn't say how many times. So it may take more than once, twice, or dozens of times. He has His purposes. It pains me to see people suffer. I often ask God why He does not relieve their suffering. He has the power. Alas, I am not God and His ways and thoughts are much higher than mine. [Is 55:8-9] We have the choice to trust Him or doubt. When you cry out repeatedly for His help and it appears He turns a deaf ear it is hard to trust and not to lose heart.

He tells us to call out to Him in the day of trouble. The word trouble means the day of adversity, affliction, distress, tribulation and sorrow. That covers a wide range of trouble. I am certain it covers your situation today. Maybe you have such a painful situation you keep it private and have shared it with no-one. Silent suffering you endure alone. Your day of trouble feels like it will never end and you endure it alone. You receive no encouragement, no listening ear and no shoulder to cry on. You trudge through your days of trouble hopelessly.

Here is a bold truth. Either God is a promise keeper or a liar. This verse cannot be true for millions of people and yet not be true for YOU! In my estimation this is nothing short of a promise from God. Is He's a promise keeper? Can we really expect Him to fulfill the last part of this verse?

He will deliver us. That means He will rescue and save us. Waaaaaaaait a minute! Many will be quick to say God did not rescue you in the day of your trouble. There are many former followers of God who feel betrayed and abandoned by Him. Tragedies, adversities and worst case scenarios hit you so hard you lost heart and faith in a good God. You feel God let you down when you needed Him most. You resent Him for it and carry deep bitterness as an after effect.

I am not saying your feelings are not real. What has that done for you though? Are you a better, happier and a more productive person as a result of resenting God? Does your life have meaning and purpose? Do you live with hope and love others freely? Are you jaded? Guarded against others and most especially religious people? Are you a pessimist?

There are thousands of questions and feelings I've had similar to yours. Why did the little girl die of cancer when we all prayed so hard for her healing? Why did the mother die tragically when we all vacationed together? Why did my little sister have to drown at four years of age and why didn't God protect her before taking that last step in the tall grass not even seeing the water? Why did the dream I poured my heart, prayer, labor and love into crumble and shatter before my eye?. Why do I see people in chronic pain constantly and yet can find no lasting relief?

For me personally, I have decided that life trusting God is better than life not trusting Him. Days of trouble come for all. I need His rescue. I need His saving. Where else can I turn for help in days of trouble.

This one thought comforts me during days and seasons of trouble. This world is not my home. Better days are coming in eternity. One day all the trouble, adversity, distress and sorrow will be gone forever when I get to Him. That is my ultimate rescue and my greatest salvation. It is true that some people do not get rescued from their trouble down here. Cancer still kills. Sin still enslaves. Satan still steals, kills and destroys. There is an eternal rescue for the redeemed.

I have hope. Hope because, though I still have days of trouble, God has brought me through so many in the past. I recount times I saw no way out and in His time and in His ways I could have never predicted He came through. He has earned my trust. I also have hope because one day He will recuse me off this painful planet. One day I will be free from the burdens down here. I will be able to sing "Free at last, free at last, praise God Almighty I'm free at last."

So I keep trying to point other people to hope. I keep urging others to keep trusting. To keep hanging on. To keep believing and enduring. Over the years, more times than I can recount, God has rescued me. It is my joy to honor and magnify Him as a result.

Trust me. I still have my day of trouble. More now than at any other time in my life. Yet, I have hope. I believe God is a promise keeper. For me and for you. So on this day of our troubles I trust God to do what He said. To keep His word. To fulfill His promise. To be a God of integrity and honor and stand by what He said. Whether in this life or the next. Press on brothers and sisters. Press on.