Is Help Available for Those Facing Trouble?

Troubles can complicate the normal ebb and flow of life regardless of social status or religious beliefs. Trouble can be discouraging, especially for good, upright people who believe in God. Proverbs 11:8 offers support: “The righteous are rescued from trouble, but the wicked fall into it.”

This does not imply God’s people are exempt from trouble, but God helps them manage what must be faced. David believed in God, but his faith did not prevent Saul from becoming obsessed with murderous rage. God used Jonathan, Saul’s son, to rescue David on several occasions.

When you ask God for help to manage trouble, he may rescue you through the effort of others. Keep in mind David did not perpetually bring trouble on himself through irresponsible behavior, so the way was open for God to help him.

When faced with troubles, pursue help from God’s mercy and goodness and from God’s people.                    

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Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

~Isaiah 41:10 New American Standard Bible 

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Can Negative Effects of Procrastination and Anxiety Be Defeated?

While anxiety is helpful at appropriate levels, it can be harmful if allowed to build where it sabotages daily objectives. Anxiety can serve as motivation to study for exams or to complete a task for recognition at work. Anxiety prompts individuals to take seriously the important issues of life.

A negative example is that of a young man who related how he had avoided calling a friend to apologize for comments that had produced hurt feelings as well as an ongoing conflict between them. Embarrassment, combined with shame and guilt, produced the anxiety that fueled his procrastination.

God’s word can defeat the negative effects of procrastination and anxiety. Listen to Philippians 4:6: “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Procrastination can be defeated by asking God for help and by thanking him for his guidance.  

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Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

Psalm 55:22 New Living Translation

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 You are invited to listen as I will be the guest on "Vital Issues in the Christian Home" this week on Thursday morning, November 14 from 10:30-11:30 Central Time on KHCB radio at 105.7 FM in the Houston area. To stream it live or for a listing of sister stations in TX, OK, LA, AR, and FL, please go to www.khcb.org.

What About Unresolved Anger?

Unresolved anger will not magically disappear but will be transformed into resentment. Anger stored away in memories where solutions are out of bounds clearly identifies resentment. Nurturing negative memories keeps hatred alive. Resentment is analogous to taking a tiger by the tail, realizing the consequence will be disastrous, but still being unable to let it go.

Resentment erodes self-esteem by destroying trust in the ones who should be valued and loved. Resentment kills friendship by destroying the capacity to trust and be honest. How does resentment get such a strong grip on us? Hurt feelings transformed into anger give birth to resentment.

What feeds resentment is the belief that you are being cut off from your desires and happiness. How can you let it go?  

Each time resentment surfaces, ask God to help you let it go. By asking God to give you the will to be forgiving, resentment loses its grip on you. This step opens the door to God’s blessings of security and safety.  

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A wise man controls his temper. He knows that anger causes mistakes.  

~Proverbs 14:29  The Living Bible

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Can Permanent Anger or Depression Be Caused by Grief?

It’s doubtful that everything we desire can be realized. Failures come at some level in every stage of life. We must keep this in mind so failure and depression will not dominate a normal life. Job 5:7 tells us "man is born for trouble as surely as the sparks fly upward from a fire."

Isaiah 53 describes Jesus as being “oppressed, afflicted, and led as a  lamb to the slaughter”, so even God’s Son was not exempt from trouble and sorrow. The lesson we learn is that there’s a purpose in our grief and suffering. If we remain hopeful, we will receive from our troubles insight for living.

Unfortunately, we can become preoccupied with resentment and anger toward others and God. Job managed his troubles by talking to God, sometimes blaming, sometimes challenging, but acknowledging him as his Redeemer, Counselor, and friend. When trouble comes, ask God to help you experience his comfort and confidence, his joy and peace.

                 

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O my soul, why be so gloomy and discouraged? Trust in God! I shall again praise him for his wondrous help; he will make me smile again, for he is my God!

~Psalm 43:5 The Living Bible

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What's God's Antidote for Temptation's Poison?

 It seems impossible to constantly be in good standing with oneself.  This is caused by careless behavior and bad choices. Temptation’s cutting edge slices into our propensity to be in conflict with ourselves and, seizing the moment, lures us away from fellowship with God and others. Our joy in the Lord then slips away.

When one aspect of our Christian life fades, it doesn’t take long for God’s presence to seemingly disappear. How could something so significant be permitted to slip away? Human nature lends itself to becoming neglectful as stress and pressure mount, causing our life to fall into disrepair.

As life’s conditions deteriorate, temptation steps to the forefront with attractive substitutions. This does not mean God gives up and turns his back. Instead, Jesus had this to say, “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” This is God’s antidote for temptation’s cutting edge.  

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And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

~Matthew 6:13 New Living Testament

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