TROUBLE
My dad was a pastor, so I went to a lot of funerals growing up.
He was also a singer, and at many of those services he was asked to sing.
Recently, a memory came back to me from when I was probably 8 or 9 years old. A teenager in our community had been killed in a car accident. I remember being there when the call came. I remember watching my parents offer whatever comfort they could to broken parents.
I don’t remember the funeral service. But I remember my dad singing this song.
The Only Real Peace.
To pretend this life is easy is naive at best. Somewhere along the way, a lot of people were told that being a Christian would make their problems go away. That if we believe in Jesus, He won’t let us suffer.
That simply isn’t true.
We will suffer.
Some of us will lose jobs, money or health. Some will lose people we love. Some will face things we cannot imagine surviving until we have to.
Believer and unbeliever alike, in this life we will have trouble.
What the believer clings to is hope.
Hope in the words of Jesus, who told us plainly that in this world we would have trouble, but also told us to take heart because He has overcome the world.
Jesus Himself knew persecution, betrayal, grief, suffering and death. He prayed for another way, yet remained faithful to the Father.
This world can take from us what is temporary.
It cannot take what is eternal.
I watched my parents, as pastors, speak that hope over so many people navigating loss.
I also heard people tell them, “That’s easy for you to say. You don’t understand. You don’t know my loss.”
My parents handled those moments with grace. They kept loving. They kept showing up. They kept offering hope.
Then, a couple of years ago, we lost my sister. And I watched my parents face the nightmare every parent prays they never will. I watched them fold over in grief. I heard their cries. I heard their prayers. I heard their struggle to understand how and why. I stood beside them as they read Scripture and sang over what remained of her earthly body. Then I drove them home. We sat together. We grieved. And we sang.
“The only real peace that I have, dear Lord, is in You.”
Whatever trouble you face today, and whatever trouble may come tomorrow, I’m praying for you. As you read this, take a second and pray for me. Pray for the people you love who are facing trouble.
May we all remember that no matter what this world brings our way, Christ has overcome this world.
Hold to Him. He is holding to you.
A video. A memory. A song. (song starts at 2:28)
Warren Barfield