WHEN TROUBLE COMES

It is not if trouble comes, but when trouble comes. It will. I’m not sure any of us know what we will do in any given situation until it presents itself.

C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) writes in ‘Surprised by Joy,’
“The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.” So, this we know… we want the kindness of God in our times of trouble and trial and not the decision and mercy of men.

Scripture provides the story of King David as a good example of this issue. David has trouble when he ‘numbered (counted) the people’ or the soldiers in his army, though the Lord had told him not to do so. Through the prophet Gad, David is told of God’s displeasure with his actions and gives him three choices for restitution: Seven years of famine, three months of being pursued by his enemies, or three days of pestilence in the land. David responds, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Jesus