Turbulence

There seems to be no trouble like the trouble of having turbulence on an airplane while traveling.  You are helpless, and you have no control or any idea of how long it will last. Similarly, in life, you have many experiences of turbulence. The comforts of living a fairy tale somehow do not permit us to give glory to the Father as the thorns of real life.  In John 16:33b, Christ states, “…In the world you will have tribulation.”  What a discouraging thought, but with the next part of the verse, Christ brings hope:  John 16:33c says, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”.  God does not want us to live apart from Him.  Many times, in our comforts, we don’t have a desire to be close to Him.  It is not until an enemy strikes or some trial comes to us that we recognize our intense need and desperation for the Father.  So, the times of trouble are not just to inconvenience us, but it is to draw us near God to Thee.

We must embrace the role of trouble and tribulation in our lives.  For with trouble, we can have victory.  Victory in this life comes only when we are given the peace only Christ gives in and around our trials.  Experiencing victory excites the whole idea of overcoming, subduing a force.  There is a meme I read recently which stated, “I will ignore the haters and concentrate on those who love me.”  Well, the haters are the ones who bring us to our knees (often a marvelous place); they bring us to places where we must examine our hearts against our only standard and that is the Lord Himself.   It is a promise, a truth, “In this life we will have trouble,” (John 16:33b).  Psalm 23, also alludes that there will be trouble with the verse, “Yea though I walk in the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”  Here, just as David, we, too, need the experiences of rejection and offense.  They compel us to depend upon the Lord for His peace and victory.  We need to cling to the principles of Christ despite the trial and stand.
 
We can choose to grasp hold of rescue verses such as, Psalm 61:2, “…when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”; Psalm 121:2, “I lift my eyes to the hills from where my help comes; my help comes from the Lord.”  We have promise and purpose, and only God knows exactly how to bring us to and through what brings Him glory, and that peace is only in and with Him.  “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever.”  (I Timothy 1:17). Amen.

PRAYER:  Lord, thank You for Your great truths to help us in this life.  For You want us to glorify You by having Your peace in our storms.  You desire us to be victorious over our obstacles, and that is why You have given us Your Word so we can find that peace of victory (no pun intended).  Thank You for molding and shaping us to bring You glory…In Jesus’ Name-Amen.
By Sis. Lisa Williams