No matter where you turn, there always seems to be trouble. Every day headlines on newsfeeds blare out the terrible things that are happening at home and abroad. There is so much trouble, in fact, that many just seek to ignore and avoid the news. Instead, they turn their attention to funny or heartwarming videos, uplifting stories, and the like.
But one can only avoid trouble for so long before, as Jesus promised, it comes knocking at your door. Grief, sickness, rejection, injustice, disappointment are just a few of the troubles that we likely will face along our journey in life. It is difficult to prepare for the moment of trouble because likely we won’t see it coming. It just suddenly appears on our doorstep—the death of a loved one, the rejection by someone important to us, the evaporation of a long-held dream. However, we can prepare ourselves for the fallout that always comes from the trouble.
I once saw a counselor to deal with some personal issues and during one of our sessions, he pointed out the foundation of a house is solely dependent upon that which it is setting. The foundation, he said, could be excellent, but if what is underneath it is anything less than bedrock, it is in danger of crumbling. The foundations of structures which are built on bedrock will survive even if what is built upon it is destroyed. What the counselor was saying to me is that though my life had suffered damage, the fact that Jesus was my bedrock was the reason I could have hope of rebuilding, of bouncing back.
The danger of experiencing trouble exists when we build our lives on other things than the bedrock of Jesus. It is why some people leave the faith or remain in a life-long depressive state after trouble strikes. Their lives were built on something else. Jesus was a part of the structure rather than the bedrock. I have often seen this with students who love being a part of campus ministry, love the friends and the fellowship they have. When the “trouble” of loneliness and isolation hits after they graduate and move to a new town or city where they know no one and everything is new, their faith begins to crumble. The problem is they had built their faith on something other than Jesus. Campus ministries are great; friends are great; but they cannot sustain a life that is beset by troubles. Only Jesus can do that.
Today, know the best way to plan for the eventual troubles you will face, or to deal with the troubles you are now facing, is to make Jesus your bedrock. Build your life upon Him and Him only. Nothing is more solid and stable than the Rock of our salvation and strength. (Psalm 18:2)
© Jim Musser 2017
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