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Trouble


 Trouble pursues the sinner but the righteous are rewarded with good things. (Proverbs 13:21)
But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23)
          There’s a story about a man who had something bad happen to him. When his friends said, “How sad,” he replied, “Not necessarily.” Then something good happened as a result of the bad, and his friends said, “How fortunate,” and he said, “No necessarily.” Then something bad happened as the result of the supposed good thing. We tend to be quick to label things as “good” and “bad” from a very narrow perspective. Some of the “best” things that have happened to me have been some of the worst things, and some of the worst things, some of the best. 
         The things that most often separates “trouble” from “good things” are 1) desire and 2) faith. Good things are the things we want, and trouble is what we don’t. That one is a little more difficult is having faith that no matter what happens, God is in control and He causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28.) Do you realize how critically important this idea is? In Romans 14:23, it says that everything that does not come from faith is sin. If we do not have faith in God when it comes to troubles, we are sinning, and therefore that which pursues us is trouble. If we have faith, we believe that even in the troubles, we will be rewarded with good things. That’s hard. It’s hard to think that way because when we have troubles, they tend to be all we see. And that brings me back to what may be this winter’s mantra: 
Lord, change my circumstances or change my mind.

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