“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.”
(Habakkuk 3:17-19)
General George Armstrong Custer is a name familiar to everyone. He was an Indian fighter in the west over a hundred years ago. Despite all of his bravery, he is best known for his defeat to the Sioux Indians at the Little Big Horn River. His troop was ambushed, and all 250 men perished.
But there was one way that Custer could have easily won the battle against the Sioux. If Sitting Bull had sent his braves one by one against Custer, instead of sending all of them at once, the Sioux could have easily been beaten, and the history books would read quite differently today.
It’s a lot like troubles. If troubles would just come one by one, we could easily defeat them. But when troubles come, they come in squadrons against us, and they overwhelm us, just as Custer was overwhelmed at the Little Big Horn.
You all know what I’m talking about. At times we have troubles that just seem to gang up on us all at once …
• The dog runs away …
• Our arthritis acts up …
• Bills are coming in faster than the money to pay them …
• Our children won’t act right …
• The car breaks down …
• When our spouse walks away …
I could go on and on and on. We can handle our troubles one at a time, but they never seem to come just one at a time.
Psalm 118 attests well to the coming of trouble: “all nations surround me …. They surround me on every side …. They surround me like bees; they blazed like a fire of thorns … I was pushed so hard that I was falling!” (Psalm 118:10-13 RSV)
Trouble is a familiar foe. It seems to have a pass key to every home, and a reserved seat at our dining room table.
We can understand when trouble comes to the wicked and ungodly. After all don’t their actions deserve the trouble they get into? But when trouble comes to us or to other innocent people, it is a far different matter.
There seems to be four different attitudes we take towards trouble when it comes knocking at our door. There is unbelieving … intellectualizing … resigning … and believing.
