Here Comes Trouble Again! # 2b

When the good times come, we all respond basically the same way. For example, when someone asks us HOW WE ARE, all of us just give them a big smile and we say, “GREAT!”

In the difficult times, we can see the difference in people. When the difficult times come and you ask them HOW THEY ARE. . .

• Some will let you know they are not very happy

• Some will let you know they are angry

• Some will let you know they are disappointed

• Some will let you know they are ready to hurt someone

Sometimes we do not even need to ask them HOW THEY ARE DOING, we can tell they are not doing well simply by looking at them.

Illus: Farmer Brown decided his injuries from the accident were serious enough to take the trucking company (responsible for the accident) to court. In court, the trucking company's fancy lawyer was questioning Farmer Brown. "Didn't you say, at the scene of the accident, 'YOU FELT GREAT" asked the lawyer.

• Farmer Brown responded, "Well I'll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule Bessie into the..."

• "I didn't ask for any details," the lawyer interrupted, "just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, that YOU FELT GREAT?"

• Farmer Brown said, "Well I had just gotten Bessie into the trailer and I was driving down the road..."

• The lawyer interrupted again and said, "Judge, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question."

• By this time the Judge was fairly interested in Farmer Brown's answer and said to the lawyer, "I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule Bessie."

• Brown thanked the Judge and proceeded, "Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into the trailer and was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side."

• He continued, "I was thrown into one ditch and Bessie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn't want to move. However, I could hear ole Bessie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in terrible shape just by her groans."

• "Shortly after the accident, a highway patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Bessie moaning and groaning so he went over to her. After he looked at her, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes. Then the patrolman came across the road with his gun in his hand and looked at me."

• Finally, farmer Brown came to the end of the story. "The patrolman looked at me and said, 'Your mule was in such bad shape I had to shoot her. How are YOU feeling'?"

You have to be careful when you ask some people how they are feeling, because for the next two hours they will tell you how they are feeling. They do not REALLY have anything to complain about, but they can find a lot to complain about.

Illus: They remind me of a customer that was bothering the waiter in a restaurant.

• First, he asked that the air conditioning be turned down because he was too hot.

• Then he asked the waiter turn it up down because he was getting too cold.

He kept doing this for about a half an hour. Surprisingly, the waiter was very patient, he walked back and forth and never once got angry.

Finally, a second customer asked him why he didn't throw out the pest.

"Oh, I really don't mind," said the waiter with a smile. "You see, when he complains I just walk by and hit the light switch to satisfy him, because we don't even have an air conditioner."

You can tell by looking at some people that something is bothering them. There are others who can face severe difficulty and you would never know that something was wrong in their life.

During these difficult times, God says we are to TRUST HIM! WHY?

Look at Isaiah 55:8-9, we read, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Just because things don’t make sense to us, doesn’t mean they DON’T MAKE SENSE TO GOD! Just because we do not understand now, does not mean we will NEVER UNDERSTAND!