Can God Trust You With Trouble? - LaQuenda Jackson

My girlfriend shared this sermon title with me from a Sunday worship service at her church. Can God trust you with trouble was the familiar lesson of Job and his run in with the devil.

She shared that her pastor reminded everyone that God boasted about Job’s goodness, and he was a pretty good example of what a Christian should be. The Lord said Job was “upright and blameless,” always careful not to do any evil.

Then, on cue, in walks the devil, telling God that Job is only good because he has been blessed and highly favored. What would happen if a little trouble came his way?

This led me to wonder, can I be trusted with trouble? The short answer, I’m not so sure.

People say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But, I’m going to be honest. I’d rather not be put to the test. But it’s in that test where your faith is strengthened.

Over the summer, things went terribly wrong on my job. My supervisor and I just didn’t see eye to eye, and I was placed on a “working notice” meaning I was given time to look for a new job as my last day of work approached. I was mortified.  I had never been fired from a job. I just bought a house. I have three kids. The list of reasons to worry kept growing and growing, and I literally made myself sick. I was nauseous going and coming from work.

After a few days of lamenting my situation, Stoney asked me, “Why are you so worried? Don’t you know that God’s got you?” I kept trying to explain to him that I wasn’t worried about God. My worries were focused on J.P. Morgan Chase and this mortgage.

But little did I know, God had a plan in motion. A month earlier, I interviewed for a job that I wasn’t completely interested in. As a matter of fact, I tried to come up with every excuse possible not to go, but the recruiter was relentless. As things continued to deteriorate on my job, things looked better and better with the recruiter. As one door closed, another window, another job was opened to me.

Trouble crept up on me, and I was ready to cave in. But God was working it out for my good, like he always does. Where was my faith? I think God allows trouble to spring up to provide us with the much-needed retest. Like many people have to take so many hours of professional development to maintain their credentials, I feel God has to recertify our faith to remind us of his goodness, and his mercy.

Can God trust me with trouble? Again, I’m not sure. But I’m glad to report that I’m further along now than I ever have been in the past.