Well, it has been quite a week, quite a week, and yet we're still here. And what it was just so moving to hear you sing that hymn acapella. I was holding back tears just being moved by hearing God's people singing praise to God after all that we've been through. We know we serve a merciful God. loving God Things happen that we can't understand or explain but we know who God is and we belong to him and He has protected us Hurricane Helene has left a swath of destruction on a unprecedented scale It's affected my family and our home. It's affected the families of our church. It's affected our church building. It's affected our community, and in fact, the whole region of Western North Carolina. As long as we're in this fallen world, A world that has been wrecked by sin, we can be sure that we will meet trouble somewhere along the way. The Bible speaks of this in Job 5, 7. It says, Yep, man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. Trouble will come. The question for you to consider this morning is how should I respond to trouble when it comes? How should I respond? Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for bringing us here safely today. We thank you that we can gather as your people, even under these distressed circumstances. And yet you've given us such a pleasant day for us to be here. You've allowed us to worship together, to once again sing your praises, to once again encourage one another, to show love to one another, to practice all to one another. We thank you, Lord, for your steadfast love for us, your abundant mercies, your everlasting kindness. We thank you, Lord, that you are all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving. And Lord, I pray in this time that we have together that we might reflect upon some truths from your word that might encourage our hearts, that might help us to move forward from here and respond to these trials. in a way that will bring you honor and glory. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. The theme of my message this morning, message that I really feel the Lord has laid on my heart, is this. When trouble comes, you are to respond to it in the way God wants you to. Is that not obvious? As a believer, as a Christian, as a child of God, when trouble comes, You're to respond to it in the way God wants you to. And just that very statement brings God into the picture. We have to do that. We're Christians. We bear the name of Christ. We cannot go on with our lives in a tragedy like this as the world does, for we know Christ. And we're children of God. Jim Berg points out in his little book, When Trouble Comes, that trouble comes in many forms. It may be a cancer diagnosis. It may be an unmarried daughter who's pregnant who runs away with her boyfriend. Maybe a teenage son arrested for shoplifting. Maybe a wife who leaves her husband or a husband who has an affair. It could be the loss of a child. a financial loss, loss of a job, could be any number of things, as Berg points out. But for us today, trouble has come in the form of a very powerful hurricane that has devastated the whole region. When trouble like this comes, We must respond to it in the way that God wants us to. Now, I want my message today to be as practical as possible. And so I'm going to give you seven actions you can take and should take when trouble comes, trouble like what we're experiencing. And the first action is an important one. You ought to cry out to God for help. Cry out to God for help in prayer. When any person in the world is in trouble, even an unbeliever, it's a natural human impulse to cry out for help. Help me. Help me. For the Christian, our natural impulse ought to be to cry out to God. Lord Jesus, help me. God, help me. We cry out to God. We know from whence our help comes. It doesn't really come from a military helicopter. It comes from far higher up than that. It comes from heaven. It comes from God. That's what David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, did. He cried out to God for help when he was in trouble. In Psalm 18 in verse six. David says, In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried unto my God. He heard my voice. Out of his temple. And my cry came before him, even into his ears. You know, that's true. You know, when you cry out to God for help, he hears you. The sound of your voice carries all the way to heaven. to the very ear of God, he hears your cry. He hears your cry in distress. David also cries in Psalm 109, Help me, O Lord my God, O save me according to thy mercy. Why? That they may know that this is thy hand, that thou, Lord, hast done it. I'm sure if you have internet access, you've been able to read some of the stories told by those who are Christians of just how God, in some miraculous way, preserved their life. Saved them. Why? That the world may know that it's the hand of God. It's the hand of God. What a tremendous comfort it is to realize that God always, always hears our cry for help. The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 4.15, We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Yes, that's where we turn. We turn to the throne of grace. We cry out to God for help. Help me, Lord. Help me, God. Help me, Jesus. Jim Berg writes in his book, because Jesus Christ endured all the agonies of living on a fallen planet, He can be our best comforter when trouble comes. He not only feels the afflictions we are experiencing, but is also ready to help us in our time of need. Always ready to help. David writes in Psalm 46, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. He's right here in an instant as soon as you cry. David goes on, "'Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, and though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.'" Folks, that could very well describe the turbulent waters, the floodwaters caused by Hurricane Helene. It's in those kind of circumstances. that we can seek God as our refuge and strength of very present help and trouble. I think I've shared this before, but there's a scene in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress where Christian finds himself sinking hopelessly into a slough of despond He's going down. He's going down. He's going down. And so he cries out help help and all of a sudden This hand appears out of nowhere. Of course, it's attached to a body a person. Okay, but reaches out and grabs him and pulls him out What was that man's name help His name was help who sent him God sent him There are stories of total strangers who help someone in this crisis. That person appears and then disappears. You can't help but wonder, was that an angel sent by God? So when trouble comes, cry out to God in prayer. That's the first thing. That's the first action. That's the first impulse as a believer. I've got six more. Number two, second action you can take. Remind yourself that God is in control. That truth can be so calming when you're in a crisis. Remind yourself that God is in control. You must cling to the truth that God is sovereign, that he is in total control. It may not make sense to you at the time. But you've got to believe that. Jay Adams has a unique way of expressing this truth in his book, How to Handle Trouble. Adams says, God is in the trouble. God is in the trouble. Adams writes, Belief in God's providence will make an enormous difference in your attitude toward trouble. A providential view affirms that there is meaning and purpose to it. The trouble is but a means to realize that purpose, even when your nose is pressed tightly against trouble, for you to discover its purpose. When you realize that God is in the trouble, it gives you a sense that there's purpose in the trouble. There's a reason for it. Yes, it could be judgment. We know where our nation is right now. We know our nation deserves judgment from God. It could be judgment. It could be a wake up call to this lost world. It could be purpose in this for us to reach out to the lost and share the gospel with them in a moment of tenderness and vulnerability. So God is in trouble. Perhaps we just need to stop and reflect upon the simple theology of a child's song, he's got the whole world in his hands. Got the whole world in his hands. He's got the whole wide world in his hands. Do you believe that? God is sovereign. What tremendous biblical truth there is in that simple children's song. So when trouble comes, when a crisis comes. We need to remind ourselves that God is in control. I've been on the phone a lot in the last week with insurance companies, both for our home, for my car, my truck, and for the church here, and for, by the way, our church on Shepherd Street that's used by the Hispanic ministry. Even insurance companies recognize that a hurricane is an act of God. It's an act of God. God is in the trouble. Does this make us angry toward God? I hope not. That's not a biblical response to trouble. That's not how God would want us to respond. Like Job, we might be tempted to question God's justice. Why me, Lord? Why has this happened to me? But whatever our thinking may be, We must never stop trusting that God is sovereign, that He's in control. And when we really take that to heart, it's going to quiet us within, it's going to calm us. So when trouble comes, respond to it in the way God wants you to. Number one, cry out to God in prayer. Number two, remind yourself that God is in control. Number three, Trust that God will strengthen you. You know, you feel like you're overwhelmed by the circumstances that you're facing. I mean, it's one thing after another, after another in a crisis like this. You need to trust that God will strengthen you. God reassured his people through Isaiah in Isaiah 41.10, fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. What a promise. I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Here's tremendous promises that God gives to his people. He's going to strengthen you. He's going to help you. He's going to hold you up when you just feel like you're going to collapse from exhaustion. He's there for you. He will strengthen you. Think about the Apostle Paul. Think about all that he'd been through. How was Paul able to rise above his circumstances? What kept this man going? Blow after blow. Trial after trial. The answer? Christ strengthened him. Paul writes in Philippians 4, beginning in verse 11, I've learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I'm instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Why did he have to say all things? Well, it's because it's true. That doesn't leave us any wiggle room, you know? Say, Lord, but this circumstance. No, even in this circumstance, Christ is going to strengthen you. I can do all things through Christ. You can do all things through Christ. We as a church can do all things through Christ who strengthens us What a precious truth Action number four Realize that it could be worse It just helps to put things in perspective realize that it could be worse. Yes, we've had it bad here But others have had it far far worse Last time I checked, at least 227 people lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Helene. Terry made me aware of one very tragic story. A woman named Megan and her son Micah were at Megan's parents' home when Helene's floodwaters began to rise, came their way, Rose above the house. They were up on the roof of the house. And the force of the floodwaters caused the house to collapse. All four of them were plunged into the floodwaters. Megan's 70-plus-year-old parents, her son, Micah, all swept away by the floodwaters. Bodies were found later. Megan survived. She's a professing Christian. She describes it as a miracle. Somehow wedged between, as I understand it, a couple of structures. She survived. But she lost her parents. She lost her son. Imagine being in that circumstance and seeing those floodwaters rise and having the house collapse out from under you and watching three of your loved ones carried off into the floodwaters. They had it far worse. Be thankful that no one in your family lost their life. Last time I checked, hundreds of people are still missing and unaccounted for, so the death toll is likely to rise. At one point I heard that some 500 people, I'm not sure how accurate the numbers are, hundreds of people missing and unaccounted for. Imagine you being in that situation where somebody very close to you is missing for a whole week and you don't know. Are they alive? Have they been rescued? Or have they passed away? You have no closure. Be thankful that no one in your family is missing. Those families have had it far worse. Many have been injured, injured by falling trees, injured because of other circumstances. Be thankful that you haven't been injured. People in your family have not been injured. Some families, many families have lost their homes. Maybe you've lost power, but you still have your home. Be thankful you have your home. Along the Gulf Coast of Florida near Tampa, Helene's storm surge caused water levels to rise by as much as eight feet above normal. In a matter of minutes, my deceased brother's wife and her husband lost their beautiful home on the intercoastal waterways there near Clearwater. Lost their home. They lost two cars that were parked there, all the belongings in the home, all of those memories and photo albums damaged or swept away. It's all gone. Be thankful you have your home. You see what I'm saying? When you really stop to realize that it could be worse, it gives you a lot to be thankful for. And we as Christians know who to thank. We know who to thank. Consider Job in the Old Testament. He lost nearly everything except a wife who told him to curse God and die. You know what Job said to her? He said, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women. What, shall we not receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil, tragedy, trouble? And all this did not Job sin with his lips. Dear brethren, let us not sin with our lips in this tragedy. Let us be like Job and say, shall we not receive from the hand of God what comes, good or bad? And shall we not continue to bless God with our lips rather than to curse God and wish to die? Job had it bad. He had it really bad. But the Lord preserved his life. And in the end, the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. Folks, there may be such blessings awaiting us even in this life, certainly in the life to come. And so let us be careful what comes out of our lips. Let us continue to sing praises to our God. When trouble comes, respond to it in the way God wants you to. Cry out to God in prayer. Remind yourself that God is in control. Trust that Christ will strengthen you. Realize that it could be worse. Number five, look for what God is doing. Look for what God is doing. Think of the Apostle Paul. You want to turn to Philippians 1. Apostle Paul saw God's good purposes in his circumstances, even in his bonds. This is a prison epistle. He's writing from prison. He's in bonds. Philippians 1 verse 12. But I would you should understand, brethren, that the things which happened to me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. And many other brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear." Paul is imprisoned and he's in bonds, and he's saying, look at all the good that God is doing. God is at work in this circumstance. Yes, I'm in prison, but hey, I'm preaching the gospel. The Praetorian Guard is hearing it. People are getting saved. The word is spreading. The gospel is being heard in places that it might not otherwise have been heard. And not only that, Paul says, there are people out there preaching. They're stirred up. They're motivated by the fact that I'm in prison. It's kind of like, you know, they've been given this greater opportunity because, you know, Paul is shut down. Paul is rejoicing. The gospel's getting out to people. So God was at work even in his circumstances. That's what Paul's saying here. Think about Joseph in the Old Testament. Think about all the hardships that Joseph went through. I mean, first of all, in his own family, his brothers were jealous of him. His parents didn't really understand him. When the brothers had the occasion, they threw him into a pit and then sold him into slavery. And so off he goes into slavery, taken away from his family, from everything he knew. Became a slave in Potiphar's household. And then he was falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, put into prison, and he was forgotten there. He was forgotten by the king's cupbearer, I mean, this guy had gone through so much. But you know how Joseph's story ends. And you know how God had a purpose in all that. God was working through all those circumstances to bring Joseph to that position of prominence in Egypt to save many people through a period of famine. And so it is the end of the story. His brothers come to him, they're just afraid that Joseph is gonna have them killed. Joseph says in Genesis 50 verse 20, but as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much people alive. So look for what God is doing and this really brings us to number six, expect good to come. Expect good to come. Look for what God is doing. Expect good to come. Can God use trouble for good? Yes, He can. And He does all the time. He'll use trouble to bring about good. I just love the Sunday school series we had recently. Maybe the Lord was preparing us for this. Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things work together for good, don't they? that them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose. All things work together for good for us. For us. This is not some trite saying. I'm really glad that we probed the depths of this through that Sunday School series to realize this. This is something substantial. I mean, this is rock solid biblical truth that God works all things together for good We may have to wait for it to manifest itself But all things even this what we're going through will work together for good Again consider all the trouble that the Apostle Paul encountered if you turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 2 Corinthians 11, we'll begin in verse 23. Paul's dealing with some attitudes there in the church in Corinth. And so he's just laying it out for them, kind of what he's been through. He says, Are they ministers of Christ? They speak as a fool. I am more. In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. Of the Jews, five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned. Thrice I was shipwrecked, suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen. in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness, in painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold, in nakedness." And if that's not enough, he says, "...beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." That's a lot of trouble for one man. That's a lot of trouble. You might say here a heap of trouble. Paul wrote these words late in his third missionary journey. Journey's not done. There's more trouble for him. As he goes on the return trip, he goes back to Jerusalem where there's more trouble waiting for him. There's an angry mob waiting for him. There are Roman soldiers who are going to arrest him. and take him over to Caesarea by the sea, and he's going to rot in prison for two years there. And then finally, he's going to appeal his case to Caesar. He's going to get on a ship. Whoo! A little bit of a nice ocean journey, you know, a nice cruise, right? No! He encounters a storm at sea, a fierce storm. It drives the ship for days. It can't see daylight. And finally, the ship runs aground on the Isle of Malta. He's shipwrecked. Can't even get to Rome. Finally does. Finally a ship comes and he takes him to Rome. He arrives in Rome as what? A prisoner of Rome. I mean, this man faced a lot of trouble. Is Paul distressed? Is he crushed? Is he despairing? Is Paul having a little pity party for himself, kind of feeling all alone and abandoned by everyone? No, not the Apostle Paul. Turn back to 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7. Here's what he says. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, note that, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." Paul recognized that God was at work through his circumstances. And he even makes this statement, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. He's saying we're just mere jars of clay. You know, this is a reminder to us of our own human weakness. The limitations of our own strength, right? Why is that? Well, it's to show the extraordinary power that we have to endure comes from God and not from within us. It's a divine provision. God gives us the power to carry on. We have this saying, you know, pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. You can't do that. Have you ever thought about it? You know, how does a person do that? But you can pull yourself up by your faith in God. And God will lift you up by your bootstraps out of the muck and put you on solid ground. Perhaps the storm caused you to lose your power and your internet access. Perhaps you had some trees down in your yard. Perhaps a tree fell on your house. Perhaps a tree fell on your truck. Perhaps a tree fell on both. That's my story. What good could possibly come from these things? Well, first of all, a major traumatic event like a hurricane drives us to our knees. It causes us to turn to God, to cry out to God as we ought to do, as ought to be our first impulse. It reminds us of our dependence upon God. That's a good thing. You know, we can't go through life on our own. We need God. We need His help. We need to admit our own human weakness that we're jars of clay, that we need God. It recalibrates our priorities. Boy, does it. Boy, does it. It makes us appreciate God's everyday blessings that we take for granted, like electricity. And it creates opportunities that we might not otherwise have. And I think this is the important thing. So brethren, we need to be looking for these opportunities. There might be a door of opportunity for the gospel that is now open that was shut to this point. We need to look for that open door of opportunity. Or at least there may be an opportunity for us to grow in our own spiritual maturity and sanctification. Let's look for those opportunities too. Boy, I'm telling you, I'll just be honest with you, I'm learning. I'm learning some things about myself and how I respond to stress. in difficulty. I'm human too. My wife will not tell you because she's such a good wife. So look for what God is doing and expect good to come. And number seven, keep your eye on the goal. What's the goal? What's the overarching goal of the Christian life? Well, it's to bring glory to God. Keep your eye on that goal. It'll keep you out of a lot of trouble. Our goal must always be to bring glory to God. All that we do ought to bring glory to God. 1 Corinthians 10, 31, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Everything we do is for the glory of God. Is the glory of God your chief concern? Is it? Is bringing glory to God your goal when you're facing fiery trials or trouble comes into your life? Is God's glory your chief concern or is your own comfort your chief concern? You remember the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? King Nebuchadnezzar had ordered them to worship the image that he had made unto himself. But they refused, because they could not give glory to an idol that belongs to God. That's glory that belongs only to God. And so they answered the king, Daniel 3.16, they answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we're not careful to answer thee in this matter, If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." So they refused to comply with the king's order. And so they were thrown into the fiery furnace. But there weren't three of them in there. There were four. One like unto a son of God. Some heavenly visitor, perhaps a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, appeared in that fiery furnace with them. And they survived. God did protect them. Jim Berg reflects upon the example of these three men, and he writes this. This passage gives us some wonderful instruction for handling the fiery furnaces of our lives. First, it teaches us that we should always respond in a way that shows that God is more important than anything else to us. And it also teaches us that we should respond in such a way that others who watch us in our fiery furnace can see someone like the Son of God with us in our furnace of trial. Do those unsaved neighbors around you see the Son of God with you? Are you a testimony to them of Christ's presence working in your life? in this trial. So let me review. Seven actions you can and should take when trouble comes. Number one, cry out to God in prayer. Be praying. Let that be your first impulse and let you continually cry out to God. Number two, remind yourself that God is in control. That's going to calm you down. You know, that'll stop that panic response that we tend to have. God is in control. Trust that Christ will strengthen you. Realize that it could be worse, that puts it in perspective. Look for what God is doing. Expect good to come. And keep your eye on the goal to bring glory to God. When trouble comes, respond to it in the way that God wants you to respond. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for bringing us right back to the biblical truths that we so desperately need when we're in trouble like this. When trials come into our life. When they seem overwhelming to us in our own limited human strength and ability. Lord, I pray that you will help us to respond as we should. Help us to respond in a way that will bring you glory. It will be a testimony to others. Help us to respond in a way that will please you. Help us to look for those opportunities to see what you're doing and to get involved in what you're doing and expect good to come from it. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to close with number 478. It is well with my soul. I'll turn it over to Mark to lead us in that hymn. In 478, let's stand together to sing, It Is Well With My Soul. When peace like a river attendeth my way, ♪ When sorrows like sea billows roll ♪ ♪ Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say ♪ ♪ It is well, it is well with my soul ♪ it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, his blessed assurance control, that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and hath shed his own blood for my soul. with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought, My sin not in part, but the whole, Was nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. And, Lord, haste the day when thy faith shall be signed. The clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. Before I close this in prayer, I just want to encourage you. Look around, see who's here, and stop to think who's not here. And let's reach out to one another. Let's be in communication with one another. If needs arise, please contact your care deacon. Contact me or Pastor Milligan. Let's stay in contact with one another. Let's be praying for one another. Let's look for opportunities to serve one another. We mentioned Jerry Morseman. We mentioned Chris Massey. There are others that are not able to be here. So let's pray for them. Let's remember them. Let's visit where we can those who aren't able to be here today. And so let's be encouraging one another to hang in there. Look to the Lord, cry out to him and see what he's doing. And let's do something with him. OK, let's pray together. Our father, we thank you for this time of worship together. What a joy it is to be with your people, to be able to worship, to have the beauty of of your creation surrounding us to have a beautiful day like this that you've given to us. Lord, we thank you for the gift of one another. We thank you that we are a body of believers. We can encourage one another, and we can support one another and help one another. I pray, Lord, that you'll just open our eyes, that we might see the opportunities that you have opened up around us, opportunities for the gospel, opportunities to bring you glory. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.