My dear readers,

The Divine Movement of Trouble

Proverbs 11:8: “The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.”

We live in a trouble-filled world from birth to death. There is no escape from trouble. Crying is the first sound a baby makes when he comes into this world. This ominous sound is the sad harbinger of what is to come, that is to live in this sin-filled world of evil and powerful men and women. From home life to school life to work life to life’s end is a psychedelic journey of laughter and sorrow, pain and peace, life and death. Troubles follow everywhere we go.

These troubles include natural disasters such as drought, famine, monsoons, tsunamis, earthquakes; the wickedness and despotic behaviour of evil men; sicknesses; man-made disasters caused by the greed of man; wars, etc.

Trouble sticks closer to us than our shadow
in bright sunlight. When night comes, the darkness of doom hangs over our heads like the colourless moon peeping out of the dark, stormy clouds before a torrential rain. Life is short and long in trouble. Trouble like the rising of the sun keeps on coming relentlessly. It seems that the only way out for sinful man is death when he leaves this world for another! But if he dies in his sin, his trouble, after being cast into the fire, is a million times worse. Hell is a place of great pain and torment and gnashing of teeth, where no one can escape once they arrive. There is no relief, not even for one millisecond.

Is it possible to live a trouble-free life on Earth?

Proverbs 11:8 assures us that all believers in Christ are already living a trouble-free life! The literal translation is, "The righteous, from trouble is delivered, but it comes to the wicked instead." The definition of "trouble" from the believer's perspective is crucial to understanding why he is already living a trouble-free life. The Bible is replete with many examples of God's servants being persecuted as they witness a good confession for Christ in this sin-filled world. God has also prepared all His children to be ready for suffering, for God knows that the more Christ-like His children are, the more the devil will target them. Philippians 1:29-30: "²⁹For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; ³⁰Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me." Troubles are trials for believers. When such troubles come into a believer's life, they are actually the divine building blocks sent and permitted by the believer's loving heavenly Father to help His child grow in faith through Christ. There is no better way than to suffer for Christ's sake in the course of doing God's will and God's work. Time on Earth is a life of suffering. But only God's children can say their suffering possesses a heavenly dimension; they suffer because of the words and works of Christ they proclaim. When they go through trials for Christ’s sake, their faith becomes stronger. Their convictions are strengthened and deepened. They draw closer to God in prayer and devotion. They are more joyful in their heart and soul, knowing experientially that they can believe in Christ not only in times of peace and ease, but also in times of tribulation and pain. They know they are children of God through this evidence of their salvation.

The other type of “trouble” believers experience is God's chastisement. When believers stray away from the Lord, He will chastise them because He loves them. Hebrews 12:5-7: “⁵And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: ⁶For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. ⁷If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” These chastisements come so that believers will stop sinning and return to God in holiness and righteousness. Their witness for Christ will then be back on the track of godliness and holiness. Therefore, these “troubles” sent by God are good and not to be seen as “grievous.”

These troubles will move from the righteous to the wicked. When the wicked does not know God, he is like an orphan in this world, fending for himself. He does not know how to cry to God for help because he is a sinner who does not know God in Christ. All the calamities he experiences, together with the righteous, will be afflictions only. In contrast, for the righteous they are spiritual lessons and blessings sent by their Heavenly Father to draw them closer to Him in love and trust. For example, when a drought afflicts a country, unbelievers mourn and weep as they suffer the loss of their cattle, flocks, crops, livestock, and their livelihood. Their hopes are dashed. They are at a loss as to what to do next. They have no one to turn to for help, as everyone in the country is in the same state of destitution. Sinful behaviour often diminishes in times of calamity, as evidenced by the COVID period, when all businesses, including bars and casinos, were closed. The unbelievers may complain angrily, having lost money during the closure, for they do not see that their places of business are hotbeds of sin and iniquity. The children of God know that if their God does not want the drought to come, the drought would not have happened. They see that this is the hand of their Heavenly Father. If it has happened, they know that their Heavenly Father will never allow them to be tempted beyond what their faith is able to bear, because He is faithful. Their faith will be strong enough to endure throughout till the drought is over. They learn to pray more. They learn the precious lesson of living day by day. Their faith and trust in God are deepened.

The above troubles are common to all men. But there are troubles caused by evil men who deliberately plot and plan to hurt God’s servants. They use their power and wealth to maximise their destruction against God’s servants. By hurting, including killing God’s servants, they satisfy their evil desires. Their hatred of God’s servants is illogical and cannot be explained rationally except spiritually. Why is the sharing of God’s love in Christ so offensive to such evil men? Are they forced to believe? When God’s servants share the gospel of Christ with them, they can accept or reject the gospel. However, some are not satisfied with rejecting the gospel; they want to stop others from hearing and accepting it. Why are they upset when others hear the gospel that can deliver them from the bondage to sin and from death and hell? The trouble they bring to the righteous will boomerang back on them the way it did to Haman, the Agagite. He hated Mordecai who would not bow and worship him. The rest of the people in the kingdom of Persia did, but that was not enough to satisfy Haman’s ego. He wanted Mordecai to bow and worship, but Mordecai refused. As a faithful and courageous believer, he bowed to and worshipped only the LORD. Haman plotted and deceived the King of Persia
to have all the Jews in the kingdom of Persia killed on a particular day; so great was his hatred of one Jew, Mordecai. He could not wait for that fateful day when all Jews were to be killed, including Mordecai. He built a gallows to hang Mordecai. Instead, by the sovereign will of God, the tables were turned, and Haman was hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai!

If such divine justice does not happen on Earth to the wicked who hurt the righteous, God will surely judge these wicked ones after they die for the evil they did to God’s servants whom He sent to share His love for them in Christ, for spurning and persecuting God’s servants. Whatever trouble anyone brings to God’s servants will return to them in God’s time.

When “trouble” comes, as God’s children let us ascertain if it is chastisement or the building up of the faith. Either way, it will be for our good. We must trust in the Lord always under all circumstances. Amen.