In Times of Trouble
This world has many ups and downs.
We look to the Lord to be our strength. We look to the Lord to give us the things we need to press on. Sometimes we miss the idea that God has promised us a few things. We pray but the Lord may answer ‘no’. Our prayers do not always yield the result we want.
But God does promise some things to us. There are things that we don’t have to wonder about.
He’s going to do it and He’s going to be there. God does not break His promises and He will always be there for us. Here is one of the promises God made…
“The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble…” –Psalm 9:9
There are three different parts to this verse. The first one is the easiest part, but definitely the most important. In the first two words of this verse, we solidify who God is in our lives. He is “the Lord”. It is sometimes difficult to think that we would believe anything else but when we’re going through struggles and hard times, we need to understand and reevaluate that God is the Lord of our lives.
We love that He is our Savior, that He sent Jesus to die on the cross and cleanse us of our sins. When Jesus tells people to go and sin no more, this means that to keep his commands and live as we should with Him at the head of our purpose.
So, when you find yourself in trouble or in times of spiritual oppression, ask yourself what your Lord wants from you and answer honestly if you are willing to give it.
The second part of this verse, after we have established Who is going to be in charge, is that He has promised something during our oppression. The Lord promises to be a stronghold. A stronghold is not a place of advancement in war. A stronghold is something that cannot be broken. A stronghold will keep you safe. God wants to keep you safe from oppression. The oppression may be a spiritual one. The oppression may be our own overactive emotions. Maybe the oppression is our torn down physical bodies.
God promises that He will give you a place to be safe from the oppression. It doesn’t mean that He always takes it away. It does mean you can know that you are safe with Him through that hardship.
Lastly, this verse says that we are going to have Him as a stronghold in times of trouble. Times of trouble usually indicates something that’s going wrong in our world. This could be a natural disaster or something of our own making such as debt or putting ourselves in harm’s way.
In times of trouble, the stronghold of the Lord is a place of peace. The Lord creates the stronghold not to rid us of trouble, but so we can withstand it and respond as people of God should.
Throughout the Old Testament, we see the Lord being called upon by the Israelites to end their trouble. As much as God wants to end that trouble, He also wants them to endure and have the right response. So, God creates a stronghold within His presence to lift them up when they are down that they might overcome the time of trouble.
God will give us peace through oppression and trouble. We are to walk in His ways and live life as over-comers.
God is a good God and He will not always do the things that we expect of Him, but He will always do the things we need from Him.
Rene Solis is Director of Koinonia School of Ministry, a ministry of Koinonia Church in Hanford, CA. He can be reached at ksm@kchanford.com or by calling 559-582-1528.