"Now is my soul troubled …" - Jesus said that! It is a little strange for us to imagine that the Son of God was troubled in his soul, but He was. A troubled soul is so common to man that He couldn't have been the Son of man without experiencing it, too.

Job 14:1 says: Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

Saved or lost you will have trouble. Either way the purpose of the trouble is to drive you closer to God. No one grows to a point in their spiritual life where they no longer experience it. You cannot flee from it because it will follow you. It is going to be a part of your life. Trouble is the trial of our faith – not the trial of our strength. You will eventually encounter trouble that is beyond your strength to endure. You will find that you can’t just grit your teeth and press on like you have done before – the waters have come over your head. If your faith is not really and truly in God and his Word you will fail the test at this point and become bitter toward God and everyone else. Remember that the Bible says when we are weak, that is when we are strong, if we know and walk with God. (2 Corinthians 12:10)

Trouble comes in a lot of forms. It might be serious health problems. It might be financial problems that seem beyond our ability to overcome. It might be family problems, or problems at church, or at work. It might come in the form of people who try to destroy you. But even if you are doing well in all these areas there will be times when you will find yourself with a troubled soul. It seems that we are inclined to look for something to be troubled about. God didn't intend for it to be that way, but sin has ruined God's perfect creation and trouble seems to find us. If it doesn't find us, it almost seems as if we go looking for it.

Somehow we seem to navigate our way through the troubles of life like the ones mentioned above. We can share them with other people who can pray for us and even supply the need to help us make it through. Just having someone to help bear the burden is enough to get us through most of the time. But Jesus wasn't talking about these kinds of troubles when He said his soul was troubled. There are burdens that you can't share with others. There are troubles that you must bear alone with no one to help, no one to listen, and no one to understand, except God. That is when your SOUL is troubled. There doesn't seem to be an answer or a solution and God doesn't seem to be saying, or doing, anything about it either. This kind of trouble is the real trial of your faith.

You are in a very slippery place when your soul is troubled. You don't realize it, but the devil is working on you. He is using your troubled soul to his advantage. His goal and plan is to stop you from having any influence over other people for God. He wants to shut your mouth, stop your efforts to live for God, and destroy your testimony for good, if he can. The trouble in your life is the devil's doing - not God's. God allows it because it is necessary to show forth real faith, and also to reveal the phony kind. In the end it is beneficial to all. When we are able to see the whole picture someday, as God sees it now, we will understand much more clearly why God allowed trouble in our lives.

It is very important to realize that it is NOT God who is fighting against you - it is the devil. God does NOT want to diminish your influence for him. He wants you to shine brighter and brighter. But there is an evil being who hates God and anyone who attempts to stand for Him. He will do whatever he can to bring you down. He is much more malignant than anyone has ever imagined. Think of the most vile, wicked, degraded human being that you have ever known or read about and then realize that the devil is far worse than that person is. We read in the news every day about cruel and violent persons who kill, torture, and mutilate children and others simply for their own pleasure. The devil is far meaner than any of those you have read about it. He delights in seeing you in trouble. YOU are in his crosshairs and he intends to ruin your life, destroy your soul, and make you as miserable as he can until he gets the job done. THEN he wants to use your messed up life as a stumbling block to destroy others, also.

We are in a spiritual battle if we are children of God. We must recognize who the enemy is and what his tactics are. Many people seem to blame God for their troubles and never give a thought to the fact that it might be the devil's doing instead of God's. We are not ignorant of the devil's devices …if we know the Word of God. If we ignore him or try to flee from him we will lose the battle. The Word of God instructs us to "resist the devil, and he will flee from you." - James 4:7 God is not against us if our hearts are submitted to him. He allowed Satan to trouble Job, but it was within the bounds that God set for him, and Job came forth as gold. God will not allow more trouble to come our way than we are able to bear, but by his grace He will give us the strength to overcome them. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

So trouble is common to all of us. God allows it to happen for our own good. It is for our testing and when we are through it we are better for it. Trouble drives the true Christian to his knees to seek God with a fervent heart. So next time your soul is troubled realize that the devil is standing by to use that trouble in your soul to destroy you and stop your influence for God.

Listen to David in Psalm 69 as he struggles with the same trouble of soul that we face:

Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. - Psalm 69:1-2

Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. - Psalm 69:15

And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. - Psalm 69:17

One more thing - Jesus said, "NOW is my soul troubled…" My soul is troubled NOW - but it will not always be troubled. That's the good thing about troubles - they do come to an end. There may be more later, but we WILL make it through if we look to God and trust him. We WILL see the day that we will thank God for the trouble because it brought us so much closer to Him. It improved our vision and understanding so much more than could have been accomplished any other way. That may be hard to imagine while the waters are coming over our head, but it is the truth.

Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. - Psalm 119:67

So fight the good fight of faith; stand therefore; and endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (trials and troubles); Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. - James 1:1-4

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation (trials): for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. - James 1:12

 - Mike Miller (7/30/2006)

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