Troubles

I am confronted regularly by people who want their religion [God] to protect them from all kinds of troubles. The Christian faith was never meant to make people withdraw from life and hide in a protective shelter. Jesus sent his followers out into the world with a mission, sometimes telling them to go without even a change of clothing. Jesus gave us a faith that enables us to handle life’s troubles rather than avoid them.

Christianity does not offer us release from our problems; it offers us ways to solve our problems or live through them. We are blessed with spiritual strength to face and conquer anything life might throw at us. We live in an uncertain world with men and women who do not fear God and will do anything to get their own way. The ones who attacked the World Trade Center two years ago and the ones who continue to terrorize innocent people create troubles for the rest of us. The attack on the Sikh temple on Sunday was done out of hate and confusion of the Sikh religion with Islam. The are two very different faiths.

Add to that the occasional natural disasters and uncertainty is the order of the day. An earthquake, tornado or flood is not God’s punishment on those people as some proclaim but nature doing what it needs to do. Jesus said, “It rains on the just and unjust alike.”

Our faith in Jesus the Christ gives us the power and understanding to overcome all uncertainty and to live with confidence. Through prayer, devotion, scripture study, and fellowship with other Christians we can undo any and all troubles that the evil ones send our way. Remember the words of St. Paul,  “I can to all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me.”[Philippians 4:13]