Trouble

By: Monique Smith

Peachy peach. All goodie over here. That is exactly what I expected and continually expect about my walk with Christ. I fully expect that IF I walk in the Word and stay faithful that I will NOT experience any trials or tribulations. Even though the WORD clearly….I mean CLEARLY, tells me that I WILL. James 1:2- Consider it all joy,” James said, “when you encounter various trials…” Notice James said when and not if. Regardless of the absoluteness of this scripture, it STILL catches me off guard when an issue comes up in my life! I immediately begin asking God, “What did I do wrong?” “Did I not read the Bible enough?” “Are you mad at me for not praying every day?” “HELP!” Just like a devotional I read today stated, “When we encounter difficulties, it is easy to jump to conclusions. We may think God is mad at us or He is punishing us. We wonder if God is not blessing us because we’ve disappointed Him in some way. But all through the Bible we see that some of God’s closest friends experienced the darkest nights.” Think about it, JESUS suffered!!!!!! He did NO wrong!!! Nothing!!! The Bible also tells us in John 16:33- “….In this world you will have trouble, But take heart! I have overcome the world!” Don’t get me wrong, just because the Bible tells us that we will have trials, doesn’t mean we have to like the trial. Jesus didn’t even like it! “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will,” (Matthew 26:39). BUT we can take joy and heart in the fact that God is right there with us, feeling pain as well. I recently learned that just as easily as God can love, He can hurt. We can hurt God’s feelings and he feels pain, just like us. Thankfully, His Holy Spirit is right there to comfort us all! We just have to trust that God’s will is perfect. Simple as that.

So don’t worry, be happy. God is with you and will never leave or forsake you! He’s loving and He’s your best friend!

Prayer: God, thank you for the reality check your Word constantly brings me! You are so perfect and so great and I thank you for holding my hand every step of the way through my life. God, help me understand and remember that your will is perfect and will always lead me to an expected and great end. I love love love love love you! You are amazing! You are great! You are perfect! I trust you! You love me! Thank you so much for everything. In Jesus name I pray, amen.