Instrument Rated – Part 4

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

Instrument rated for trouble. Pastors and counsellors constantly ‘pick up the pieces’ of the broken lives of those who thought trouble would never come their way, so they didn’t prepare for it. Paul wrote, ‘We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed…’ (2 Corinthians 4:8). Believers live in the same world as non-believers, but they handle it differently. That’s because they have a different source, a different strategy, and a different spirit. God’s promise is: ‘He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him’ (Psalm 91:15). Some people dwell only on troubles. Others dwell only on deliverance. The secret of victory is in accepting that trouble will come, but knowing you’re instrument rated to get through it because you’ve taken the time and training required to handle it scripturally. People say, ‘If only I’d known this was going to happen I’d have been ready for it.’ It’s foolish to go looking for trouble, but it’s even more foolish not to be prepared for it. A wife hears her husband say, ‘I’m in love with someone else’. A call comes from the police telling you that your son has been caught in a drug bust. Your tearful teenage daughter tells you she’s pregnant. Get ready for trouble, because trouble is getting ready for you! In such times the instrument-rated believer turns to their unfailing source: God’s Word. ‘He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine (recession) he shall (deliver) thee…At destruction…thou shalt laugh…’ (Job 5:19-22).

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to be prepared by Your Word for all that could, and most likely will, come my way to get me off course. In Jesus’ Name, Amen