Where you turn when you’re in trouble reveals your character. What does it tell us about young kids whose trouble turns them toward gangs, guns, or drugs? What do we learn about adults whose problems direct them toward alcohol, adultery, or the weird teachings of a cult?<\/p>\n
What about ourselves? Where do we turn when we have trouble in life? Do we look to the world of the Bible for wisdom? Where do we look for help when we are struggling with sin? We must turn to the Lord Jesus and to His Word. He is the only one who can help and certainly, the only one who can offer us forgiveness. The answers of this world will never lead us to “real” help but only to destruction.<\/p>\n
The Christians to whom Peter addressed were facing various trials (I Peter 1:6), slander and maligning (I Peter 3:15; 4:4), sufferings, and reviling (I Peter 4:12-14). To whom should they turn? Not to the world or its ways, but rather to “the God of all grace<\/em>” (I Peter 5:10). We need to look back and remember that He called us, recognize His glory in Christ, and look ahead to see how God is equipping us through our difficulties. “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you<\/em>” (I Peter 5:10).<\/p>\n Trouble on the horizon? Put your confidence in God. He helped the early Christians who suffered through persecution to overcome. He will help us through our troubles today.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Shane Williams via The Lilbourn Light, Vol. 10, No. 4, August 2009. Where you turn when you’re in trouble reveals your character. What does it tell us about young kids whose trouble turns them toward gangs, guns, or drugs? What do we learn about adults whose problems direct them toward alcohol, adultery, or the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[182,188],"class_list":["post-61010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-suffering","tag-trials"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35113,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-good-side-to-the-down-side-of-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":61010,"position":0},"title":"The Good Side to the Down Side of Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Tau Alpha Kappa (i.e. anonymous) Sentry Magazine, September 1999 I Peter 1. 6- 7 says something extraordinary in that it points out there is a good side to the downside of life. ''Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29193,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jamaica-patois-wisdom-problems\/","url_meta":{"origin":61010,"position":1},"title":"Jamaica Patois Wisdom – Problems","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant The Jamaican Patois dialect is colorful, unique, and humorous. It is my desire to share some of the philosophy shown in this mix of colorful phrases that are witty as well as thought-provoking. I hope the readers both profit and enjoy. In my quarter-century plus of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32294,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-lord-is-my-help-and-my-deliverer\/","url_meta":{"origin":61010,"position":2},"title":"The Lord is My Help and My Deliverer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Psalm 40 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Evil exists in this world, and God is concerned about our welfare - Psalm 121 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0With God on our side we have no fear of man - Hebrews 13:5-6 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yet many wonder why troubles beset us when the Almighty has promised us protection. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We often don\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58059,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/marks-of-maturity\/","url_meta":{"origin":61010,"position":3},"title":"Marks of Maturity","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steven Harper Every serious disciple of Jesus Christ desires to attain spiritual maturity, of this there should be no argument. Many faithful disciples spend their entire life striving to reach an ever-higher level of maturity, and even babes in Christ have that fervor that drives them to not remain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/OlderCouple.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":56869,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/helping-the-needy-in-our-community\/","url_meta":{"origin":61010,"position":4},"title":"Helping the Needy in Our Community","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew Allen \"My kingdom\u00a0is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not\u00a0of this realm\"\u00a0(John 18:36). I am convinced that the verse\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93522,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-prayer-from-a-pit\/","url_meta":{"origin":61010,"position":5},"title":"A Prayer from a Pit","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bill Boyd On a visit to Jerusalem, I was taken to a church that was built over the traditional house of Caiaphas. In the lower parts of that church, there is a cistern. An ancient tradition says that this cistern is where Jesus was kept the night before his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61010\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}