Finding Hope: In Times of Trouble

Times of trouble. There were songs written about that. Simon and Garfunkel wrote a song called “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” We all face difficult times. We’ve all faced troubles. The question is what do you do in the midst of that trouble?

In Jesus’ life there were many miraculous things that were recorded of what He did. In John we find the recording of the feeding of the 5,000. That was 5,000 men. There were more than that there that day. So people had just watched Him miraculously take the loaves and fish and feed that many people, and then He taught after that. What He taught was difficult. It was so difficult that many of the people who were following Him left. And He turned to the disciples and He said, “Are you gonna leave too?”

Peter’s response is recorded in John chapter six, in verse 68. “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and we’ve come to know that you’re the holy one of God.” I love those words. Where else are we going to go Lord? We don’t have anywhere else to turn.

Whose voice are you listening to in these difficult days? Because if you listen to voices in this world you can get all kinds of conflicting ideas. Some people think we’re at the end of everything. Other people think it’s just a season and we’re gonna get through it. But I find myself really confused when I listen to the voices of this world. Like Peter, what I want to say is, “Lord, where else am I gonna go? You have the words of life.”

My dad passed away a few years ago. And one of the heroes of his faith was a man by the name of Andrew Murray, who was a missionary in South Africa. In the late 1800s and early 1900s he was used by God. My dad kept on his desk for all the years that I can remember a little card. It was one of the things that Murray said about trouble. Let me just share it with you today. It says this, “In times of trouble say first He,” God, “brought me here. And it’s by His will I am in this straight place and in that I’ll rest. Next He’ll keep me here in His love and give me grace in this trial to behave as His child.”

Then say, “He’ll make this trial a blessing. Teach me lessons He intends me to learn. And working in me the grace that He means to bestow.” And last, say this, “In His good time He can bring me out again. Therefore I will say this, I am here by God’s appointment. And in His keeping, under His training, for His time.” That’s the voice that I want to listen to.

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