Your Trouble Is Not Your Truth

What to Believe and Say When Life Gives You Reasons to Doubt God

When Trouble Starts Talking

Sometimes what is happening around us can make it difficult to remember what is true. Trouble has a way of presenting itself as though it gets the final word. A bad report can make us believe things will never change. A closed door can make us question whether God is still leading us. A long season of waiting can cause us to wonder if God has heard our prayers at all. But what is happening in our lives and what is true about God are not always the same thing.

This is where we have to be careful. If we allow our circumstances to become the lens through which we see God, we can begin making conclusions that our trouble was never qualified to make. We may start speaking as though God has abandoned us, forgotten us, or stopped working simply because we cannot see what He is doing. But God’s character does not change, even when our circumstances do. His faithfulness does not become uncertain because our lives are uncertain. What we are facing may be real, but it does not get to rewrite what God has already said is true.

Trouble Does Not Cancel God’s Truth

1 Peter 4:13 (NLT) says, “Instead, be very glad–for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.”  This truth reminds us that trials can make us partners with Christ in His suffering. Jesus never promised us a trouble-free life. He suffered unfairly even though He was without sin and walked closely with the Father. Jesus is our example for how to live when life is painful and unfair. He endured what came against Him and overcame it, and because of His sacrifice, we can overcome too..

Speak What Is True

One of the most valuable lessons we can learn while going through a challenging season has to do with how we use our mouths. When trouble comes, it will try to give us a new vocabulary. We start saying things like, “This is never going to change,” “I can’t take this anymore,” or “I don’t know what God is doing.” Sometimes what we say is an honest description of how we feel in the moment, but we have to be careful not to turn a painful moment into a permanent declaration about our lives.

In Matthew 17:20 (NLT), Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” This teaches us that faith, even when it seems small, gives us the ability to speak to what stands in our way. Jesus was teaching His disciples that faith is not passive. When trouble gives us reasons to doubt, we have to be careful that our mouths don’t start agreeing with our circumstances instead of agreeing with God. We can acknowledge that something hurts without declaring that our pain is our future. We can admit that we are disappointed without deciding that God is no longer good.

Keep Speaking Life

Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” This does not mean we can say whatever we want and force God to do what we desire. It means that our words matter because they are connected to what is happening in our hearts. When we continually speak defeat, hopelessness, and fear, those thoughts can become stronger in us. But when we speak God’s truth, remind ourselves of His faithfulness, and refuse to let our circumstances have the final word, we strengthen our ability to keep trusting Him.

This is why we cannot allow disappointment to become our confession. We can tell God that we are hurting. We can admit that we do not understand what He is doing. We can cry, pray, ask questions, and acknowledge that something is difficult. Faith does not require us to pretend that everything is fine when it isn’t. Faith requires us to believe that God is still God when everything is not fine. There is a difference between acknowledging our trouble and surrendering our belief to it. Trouble may have something to say, but it does not get the last word. Your trouble is part of what you are going through, but it is not your truth.  ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Your Trouble Is Not Your Truth”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2023. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.