12142019 Trouble Doesn't Win

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our reviving God! Life has many ups and downs, and it is God who heals and restores from the difficulties to again bring blessing.

"Thou, which hast shewed me great [abundant] and sore [afflicting, vexing, miserable] troubles, shalt quicken [make alive] me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth" (Psalm 71:20).

Yes, man is born to trouble, just as sure as the sparks that fly upward. Troubles are part of life. As the above verse states, those troubles can be great. Taken over the course of life, they can add up to a mighty high pile! Sometimes they do come in combination, with several descending at the same time. Troubles can also be sore. The oppressive nature of the struggles can seem more than we can bear.

Those troubles do come from God's hand, either designed or permitted by Him, and always intended to accomplish His good purposes. The same God, however, who shows the troubles also delivers from them. Troubles are temporary. They always end. God does raise His suffering children up again.

The descriptions of what God does - quickening and bringing up from the depths - actually reveal just how difficult the trials are. They sap the life right out of us. We can feel completely flattened and deflated, sunk lower than we thought possible.

The depths of struggle, however, serve to highlight the amazing deliverance of God when it comes. God can bring new life to the one who was down to his last gasping breath. God can make to stand the one who was in a deep pit and nearly buried. The extent of His restoration is remarkable.

I love two other verses that express this same truth.  "For he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole" (Job 5:18). "For though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men" (Lamentations 3:32-33).

The trouble itself is never the whole process. There is always healing and compassion and restoration that comes afterward. God does not leave His children broken, battered, and deflated.

Some people view the troubles of life as an excuse to reject God. They label God as cruel, harsh, and vindictive. These two verses show that this is a wrong evaluation. God doesn't bring pain for no reason. He brings affliction only when it is necessary for correction or for growth; when the trouble has done its work, He lovingly brings relief. These verses that mention wounds and grief also speak of mending and healing, of compassion and abundant mercies.

Aren't you glad we serve a God who limits trials to the minimum required to accomplish the goal? Aren't you glad He never lets the trial have the last word? Aren't you glad He lovingly heals and restores, that He gives new life to the one who was wounded so deeply? He is both a good God and a wise God. May He strengthen and use you this week, even as He continues to mold and equip you.

Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
www.pressingontohigherground.blogspot.com