Our Response in Trouble can be for His Glory

We see Jesus here with the shadow of the cross upon Him. He is in a time of trouble.

Some people may figure Jesus never got into trouble, but here He was going into real trouble. This trouble was driving Him to the very depths: the condition of the world, of His followers, the unthankfulness of man for His healing; the hard-heartedness of the people to trust His words. They took His finest words and motive and turned them around. As He was getting near the cross the sin of the world caused Him more trouble than ever before.

When Lazarus was dead He was troubled and wept. He was in a troubled place. I know how He got out of it.

The part about how wicked men handled Him has always been hard to read. Indeed, when I was a sinner, it required steeling myself when I read that account.

In this scripture He is thinking about a way out—My soul is troubled and what shall I say? Shall I get out of it the quickest way? No, I understood that this was to be a troublesome hour. Shall I ask the Father to save me? No, I can say, “Father, glorify Thy Name.”

Here we see how Jesus acted in trouble.

Man, in trouble, usually sees what is the shortest way out. Let one get into financial difficulty, they want to get out.

The shortest way out to Jesus was the way He mentioned—to call on God to take the thing away. But it wasn’t to be done this way. The trouble with many of us is that we don’t take into consideration that trouble is a part of the Christian life, and these things gone through right are for the glory of God.

I am not prepared to say what is behind all trouble, but it comes to all. We know, as trouble comes, there is one way to get out of it that brings no glory to God. After some people are out of trouble, they want to give the glory to God. But it does not ring, when we are in trouble, and take the shortest way out. It seems when we are in trouble, we don’t want the moving of God.

We need the leading of the Holy Spirit more in trouble than at any other time.

He could make it so we wouldn’t have any trouble at all, but this is reserved for glory, and we aren’t there yet, we are on testing ground. We can’t be tested, if we are getting the ten dollar bills whenever we want them.

God could put it in people’s hearts to call us fine. He doesn’t put it in their hearts to treat us ill but He allows hell to strike us full face. He wants to see how our ships will stand in the time of storm.

Real trouble is coming after a while. Those who stand the tribulation will be those who have come through small victories. I do not believe God will use a company, who has never gotten victories, to get victory during the tribulation.

The flesh is glad when we get out of a test, but the Spirit isn’t, for He knows we must take the same dip again. God had His hand on Joseph. He could have wished himself to be in a different place, but when God’s time came, He got him out.

Here, we see Jesus in trouble and saying, “Father, glorify Thy Name.” That is a wonderful way to live. This concerned our attitude more than it does our acts.

We get in a position where we hardly know what to do unless our hearts are right. He is able to bring glory to His Name. We notice here His attitude toward His disciples. He didn’t do what some do though He was in trouble. He didn’t parade it before people and say, “This is terrible.” He didn’t want those who follow Him to be in trouble. He said to them, “Let not your hearts be troubled.”

Jesus was more loving and tender than at any other time. There seems to be a tenderness like never before.

There was none of that business: Watch out for me today, I wasn’t feeling so well today, you will have to get out of my way. Trouble often makes people thorny. You have to put your gloves on to handle them. Jesus was not only going through, but He was showing others how to act in the time that will come on all of us.

We must have testings, and we must have trials. It is not necessary to do anything wrong, for trouble to come upon us. Jesus did nothing wrong, but He got into trouble more than any of us. If you want the enemy to stir up trouble for you, first, live as close to God as you can. But right there is victory.

Many people get release and don’t get victory. Some people have victory, and are not released. I can’t judge a man’s victory by the numbers of places a man comes through. It may mean they are only released, and will have to go through again. There are some who it seems are called through heavier test than others. Still, we are not in a position to tell how another’s trials are. We don’t know their setup. When we come to trouble, we shouldn’t ask God to lift us out of it, but to give us grace.

The ideal for a Christian is not just spending your years. But God wants us to go through victoriously, until we go down to the shadow of death, and go through that victoriously. And when we get through, we want some treasures. Every test I get victory in, I gained confidence in God. Then comes this reassuring Word from Heaven. The Father says now that you are in that attitude, I am going to be glorified in it. Most of us can look back and see where He glorified His Name. If we are in a test, don’t ask the Lord to lift you out, but ask Him to glorify His Name.

All we need to do to see the glory of God is to put ourselves in the hand of God. It is folly to say you are thirsty, without taking a drink. Assuming we mean what we say, here is where we get what we want. The world disappoints in everything. The shows, the parties, seldom meet our expectations. But the person who looks up and says, “Glorify that name,” will hear a voice from heaven.

In spite of all of our failures, if we bring our lives to Him, and say somehow, “Get the glory,” He will do it. Many people don’t care a snap of their fingers whether God is glorified or not. Jesus cares more than about His suffering, His test, His trials, His treatment at the hands of man. He thought of the thing that was the best of all. God says, “Leave it to me, I will glorify it.”

One act of yieldedness glorifies God more than anything else. God said to Jesus, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”