My senior year of college was going great! I was very busy with my double major of intramural sports and girls. However I started to realize that my demanding schedule was beginning to leave me breathless at the end of the day. At the age of 23 I was ten feet tall and bullet proof with a strong feeling of immortality. But all of that came crashing down in an instant when I went to the doctor for a checkup. After running multiple tests the results came back and were very clear. They had discovered that I had a very rare heart disease called “Ebsteins Anomoly.” The doctor told me that I needed open heart surgery and needed it right away. The only thing I could remember at the time was a sense of complete devastation. How could this be? I had my whole life in front of me.
The brother of Jesus was very specific when he wrote to us. He said, “Dear brothers and sisters, when trouble comes your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” James 1:2
JOY?! How in the world can our troubles turn into joy? I mean don’t we spend most of our lives trying to avoid the troubles of life. We work so diligently at trying to make our lives as comfortable as possible so we will be filled with joy, right?
There are some attributes of trouble that I believe are very true.
1) Troubles are going to happen to us whether we like it or not.
2) Trouble tends to come out of nowhere. Have you ever been blind sided in life? Everything seems to be going just right and then all of sudden, “WHAM”, out of nowhere you are faced with a crisis in your life.
3) Trouble tends to cause us to doubt God. After we are faced with our crisis the first place we look is up with one question on our hearts. Why me, Lord? Haven’t I been faithful to you? Haven’t I tried to live a life pleasing to you?
4) Troubles tend to force us to look upwards. After the doubt in our heart subsides and we have nowhere else to go we begin asking God for relief. Psalm 4:1 says, Answer me when I call to you. O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress.
5) Troubles have a tendency to allow us to find strength in God. We slowly begin finding our strength in the One who loves us the most. After the questions and doubt leave then we turn to God for help.
6) Troubles have a tendency to show us what pure joy really is. It is not God’s nature to abandon His children. We might think that He does at times but what He’s really up to is a process of completing our joy by carrying us through the trouble.
Always know that through any storm in your life God is always at work!
