AVOIDING TROUBLE
Psalm 119:143
Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands give me delight.
A few days before deer season Linda and I were driving down the highway and passing one of our hunting leases. It was mid afternoon and I saw a deer coming up out of the ditch 100 yards or so from us. There was a car in front of us and I don't think that the driver saw the deer. When the deer came up onto the pavement we saw a large set of antlers and the first though I had was, "don't hit that buck, save him for hunting season".
The driver ahead of us never hit his breaks and that buck came within a couple of inches of being killed by a vehicle traveling at 60 MPH.
I never go out looking to run into deer. Although I have had many run too close to my truck and get hit. I've also had many that have run themselves into the side of my vehicles. I do my best to avoid them and to protect myself from the damage they can do.
What a great picture of life. We can be going along some days minding our own business and leading a godly life and BANG! Trouble runs right up and smacks us.
It's funny that David writes that trouble and distress have "come upon me"... We don't have the go looking for trouble, it will come to us without looking for it. We double our "trouble and distress" when we move away from the Lord and dabble on the edge of sin. When we allow ourselves to be drawn into a sinful situation we invite trouble and distress to come in. Then once they are in, getting rid of them is a major effort.
In Mark 6:33-34 Jesus said, " But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own".
Can you imagine what life might be like if Adam and Eve had avoided the tree in the middle of the garden, or if Eve had avoided the serpent? If they had avoided that trouble that came upon the earth, what a different world we would be living in today.
George Washington once said, "Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble". It's very true, when we go looking for trouble we end up bringing distress, worry and more problems on ourselves.
Be careful to avoid trouble and distress... and Never, EVER invite them in.
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