“The one who led you through this vast and terrifying desert of poisonous snakes and scorpions, of cracked ground with no water; the one who made water flow for you out of a hard rock.” Deuteronomy 8:15 (Common English Bible)
There is an old—and somewhat tired—axiom that two things are certain in life, death and taxes. While both may be true, many would agree that life cannot be reduced so simply. I don’t know how many other observations might be added to this list, but it can be said with relative certainty that trouble comes to every life. Many people, in my nearly forty years of ministry, have sat in my office and spoken of a path that seemed to stretch out ahead, a path that appeared untroubled. Then, suddenly, the whole picture was changed. The way forward now became clouded and uncertain. Trouble now accompanied them in life.
The unique circumstances vary, naturally, but the story is the same. Sorrow, disappointment, failure, and loss unexpectantly appears. Trouble comes. And the stitches that hold life together fails. We enter our forties, or fifties, or even later, and a meaningful relationship with another eludes us. Marriages are strained, children follow a path that results in brokenness, disease dulls the vibrancy of life, and natural disasters and wars disrupts a carefully planned future. We can’t talk about life without acknowledging the occasional chapters of challenge and hardship.
Comfort and wisdom are found in these few words from Deuteronomy. First, such moments of difficulty do not remain. We do not set-up residency in the troubled places of life. Pay attention to the first six words: “The one who led you through.” Our present trouble may be as vast and terrifying as a desert of poisonous snakes and scorpions, and the ground beneath our feet may be dry and cracked wide open from the lack of moisture, but each person is asked to look beyond to another chapter. God is actively moving us “through” this present trouble to another place. Present is an encouragement to keep moving. Don’t stop. Don’t give up. God accompanies us during trouble and is doing something about our present misfortune. Armed with this knowledge we find uncommon power to meeting and facing obstacles.
Second, while we find ourselves in the mist of trouble, God provides: “The one who made water flow for you out of a hard rock.” When we have exhausted all our resources and there remains nothing more that we can do, God is not done. God is not without resources to come to our aid. Here is an invitation to look to God—to anticipate God showing-up with a miracle that might be beyond our imagination. Present in our experience of trouble is an element of “nonetheless.” God is a God of the, nonetheless. So, go ahead and add “trouble” to the certainties of life. But remember, when trouble does accompany us on life’s journey, and God seems to be silent, that is when God is the nearest, providing for us and moving us forward to another more pleasant chapter.
Joy,
