Instrument Rated (4)

'...In this world you will have trouble...' John 16:33 NIV

Instrument rated for trouble. 

Pastors and counselors constantly 'pick up the pieces' of the broken lives of those who thought trouble would never come their way, so they didn't prepare for it.  

Paul wrote, 

'We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed...' (2 Corinthians 4:8 KJV). 

Believers live in the same world as non-believers, but they handle it differently. That's because they have a different source, a different strategy, and a different spirit.  

God's promise is: 

'He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him' (Psalm 91:15 KJV).

Some people dwell only on troubles. Others dwell only on deliverance. 

The secret of victory is in accepting that trouble will come, but knowing you're instrument rated to get through it because you've taken the time and training required to handle it scripturally. 

People say, 

'If only I'd known this was going to happen I'd have been ready for it.' 

It's foolish to go looking for trouble, but it's even more foolish not to be prepared for it. 

A wife hears her husband say, 'I'm in love with someone else'.  

A call comes from the police telling you that your son has been caught in a drugs bust.  

Your tearful teenage daughter tells you she's pregnant.

Get ready for trouble, because trouble is getting ready for you! In such times the instrument-rated believer turns to their unfailing source:  

God's Word. 

'He shall deliver you in six troubles: yes, in seven no evil shall touch you. In famine (recession) He shall (deliver) you... You shall laugh at destruction...' (Job 5:19-22 NKJV).

Soul Food: Jer 49-50, Matt 26:57-68, Ps 50:1-15, Pro 10:8-10

Written by Bob & Debby Gass
Thursday, 10 April 2014