As we look around us, many have come to realize that the world has fundamentally changed and there is no place that is considered “safe and stable.” Whether it be tree-lined suburbs or places we call paradise, they are now places where terrible things are happening.
This month, we will look to the Bible to help us understand how to deal with a world in distress. This first reflection teaches us that when we face trials and tribulation, we can navigate through them if we are looking to the right person:

IN WORD Problems can consume us. When trials strike, we can find ourselves completely preoccupied with how to deal with them. We obsess about their outcomes, and we strategize ways to flee them. We go to sleep thinking about them, and we wake up thinking about them still. We think we cannot rest until they are resolved.
The context of this psalm of David is the treachery of a friend. Someone had betrayed him, and the betrayal incited others to oppose him. David felt surrounded, overwhelmed, discouraged, and defeated. We can relate.
We have exactly the same reaction when life gets tough. God hears. That’s comforting. It’s even more comforting when we consider other translations of this passage. “I will complain and murmur, and He will hear my voice” (NASB). Or “I utter my complaint and moan and sigh, and He will hear my voice” (AMP). The implication is that even when we whine and grumble, God still hears. He doesn’t like our complaining, perhaps, but He knows our pain. Grace tolerates our attitudes.
We don’t have a trial that God isn’t concerned with. We cannot stumble without evoking His compassion. We can’t be overwhelmed without His knowledge and without His appeal to cast it all on Him. Whatever we’re going through, God hears.
IN DEED We’ve all heard that before. For some of us, it’s a reality; for others, just words. Some of us have heard that promise as often as we’ve heard that Jesus loves us, and though we know these things are true, we have grown numb to them. They just don’t sink in, and we aren’t affected. Wake up to the fact that the almighty, overwhelming God is listening. Even when you complain, He cares. More than that, He hears with a plan to act. He is not passively listening; He is preparing to answer. Wouldn’t you love for Him to step into your situation? According to the Bible, He will. Watch and wait. Your distress is His concern. “God will never permit any troubles to come upon us unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty.” – Peter Marshall (in “Walking with God” by Chris Tiegreen)
As we hear the news about the wildfires in Spokane and the litany of unprecedented natural disasters around the world, who is to say that it cannot happen in Issaquah or Bellevue? And isn’t Seattle due for the “big one”? How then will we respond?
The book of Habakkuk is a good book to reflect on how to respond to a world in distress. Meditate on the book this week and ponder whether you are able to share the same attitude of the last three verses. Ask the Holy Spirit to grant you God’s peace even as the days become more and more evil. Have a blessed week, knowing God cares and is watching over you! – from Singapore, Pastor Sam