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This world is a very troubling place. We know the trouble originated with the fall into sin from the very beginning and we know that until Christ comes again the trouble will continue. Such troubles can really wear on your mental energy and drag you down. One of my favorite music artists when I was a teenager was Cat Stevens. One of his hit songs was entitled “Trouble.”  

Stevens emphatically sung:

Trouble

Oh trouble set me free

I have seen your face

And it’s too much too much for me.

Trouble

Oh trouble can’t you see

You’re eating my heart away

And There’s nothing much left of me.”

Trouble can be like that. Eating away at our dreams, our desires, our relationships, our hopes.  Jesus said in John “In this world you will have trouble, but fear not, I have overcome the world.”  

In my early ministry my favorite Christian contemporary artist was Rich Mullins. He sang:

There’s bound to come some trouble to your life

But that ain’t nothing to be afraid of

There’s bound to come some trouble to your life

But that ain’t no reason to fear

I know there’s bound to come some trouble to your life

But reach out to Jesus, hold on tight

He’s been there before and He knows what it’s like

You’ll find He’s there.  

That is the answer for every trouble. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Keep your eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith.” When you begin and end every day looking to Christ Jesus for His truth and love to flow in and through you to those around you, when you surrender all of your hopes and dreams, thoughts and desires to your Lord and Savior Jesus, THEN you find that though the storms of life beat against you, the peace of Christ upholds you.

  He is the Shepherd of our souls. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Psalm 23  

Luther explains that we rightly use God’s Name when we “call upon it In every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.” That is the answer to the troubles of this world that brings the victory of Christ over sin, death, and the devil. The Lord invites, “Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.” Psalm 50:15