Troubles are great adversaries to families. I believe Satan uses troubles in families to try to destroy relationships.

During times of intense troubles, many people are tempted to give up on love. They allow troubles to destroy human relationships and even their relationships with God.

Many people dissolve their relationships, not because there is anything wrong with their relationships but because there is something wrong with life.

It is ironic that the times people need each other the most and God the most are the times many people choose to live solitary lives adding misery to misery.

Because God knew that people would have a tendency to drift away from His love during times of troubles.

He caused the Apostle Paul to write, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

There are people reading this who no longer feel the love of God. It is not because God’s love is not present.

It is because they have allowed troubles to interfere with their relationships with God. God is there, but they are not. “Draw nigh unto God, and he will draw nigh to you.”

If we will draw close to God, we will find Him to be close to us because He knows we need Him. He loves us and cares for us and wants to help us in all of our troubles.

Not only do people dissolve their relationships with God but they also dissolve their relationships with each other during times of troubles.

The Bible tells us not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting on another: and so much more as ye see the day approaching.”

Before Jesus comes back to earth again, there will be many troubles. As we see these troubles, we are commanded not to turn away from our relationships, but we are to draw close to each other and find help from each other. In short, we are not to live in isolation during troubles.

The Apostle Paul had troubles, but if we read his life, we will find that he never allowed himself to drift from God or from human relationships.

All through the epistles, Paul thanked God for the people who were a part of his life, and it is evident that he lived his life close to the God who loved him.

God wants us to do the same. God wants troubles to draw us closer to each other and closer to Himself.

In times of troubles, don’t give up on love — embrace it!

 

James Kearns is pastor of Bald Knob Church at Kitts Hill.