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Yes! There Is Good News!

Bill Rollins has been publishing each week a column in the local Elk Horn, Iowa paper for the past several years.
Note the original publication date on each blog post

Yes! There is Good News!                                         2.24.18

1/24/2021

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What should we do when trouble strikes? I suppose one must define “trouble.” Like everything else in this world, we all see trouble in differing lights. And depending upon our own personal situation in life, we might rate trouble higher or lower. For instance, suppose you receive notice that your home insurance is going up – that can be labeled as trouble. But last week your boss was feeling generous and gave you a healthy raise in pay. On the other hand you just learned last week that you will be laid off and the possibilities for getting a good job are slim. On a scale of one to ten, the first case might be a 1 or 2 but the second case is scarier and is a 6 or 7.

I just finished reading a book titled, “The Auschwitz Escape” by Joel Rosenberg. I’m sure we are all aware of what happened at Auschwitz during the early 1940s. So why didn’t the Jews rebel? Because they thought their trouble was at a level of 4 or 5. Getting on the trains, they thought they were going to a concentration camp to work in factories helping to supply the German war machine.

All will be back to normal after the war.”

Shortly after they arrived, they saw that their trouble was off the scale of 1 through 10. As one prisoner put it, “The only way out is in ashes up the chimney.”  Death and cremation was all that was in store. I have never ever seen that magnitude of trouble.

And so trouble, in varying degrees, comes upon us all. What should we do when trouble strikes? The Bible has a lot to say concerning trouble. And I am sure you are way ahead of me on this one. The number one answer to my question is to seek God.

As I ponder this topic, my mind turns to a statement that Jacob made after he had come to Egypt and to his long lost son Joseph, who was now second in command to Pharaoh in Egypt. Joseph then brings him into Pharaoh’s presence. (This episode is found in Genesis 47.) Pharaoh’s first question to Jacob is a curious one, “How old are you?” he asked. And Jacobs answer is equally curious, “The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult.” The story of Jacob’s short (130 years) and difficult life begins in Genesis 25:21 and end with his death at the end of Chapter 49. It is a long section of scripture devoted to one man and his family, but it gives us quite a picture of Jacob who started as a self-serving twin son of Isaac who encounters many troubles and difficulties, who was changed into a to a repentant patriarch who seeks the God of his fathers and then confesses that this God is his God.

Where are you in your short and difficult life? I believe I have said this before but it is true that we have a tendency to seek God only when we have difficulties and troubles. A very wise man once said to me, “Seek God when things are good and perhaps you won’t have to see many troubles.”
 
This world can be full of troubles. I think back to my first attempt at an article for this venue and consider the fact that sometimes we just need good news. God willing we will consider the topic of trouble and its anecdote, seeking the face of our God.

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    Author

    Bill Rollins resides in Elk Horn, IA, with his wife, Sally, and has pastored the Church of God of Omaha, NE for more than 35 years.

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  • Home
    • Spring Feast 2022
    • FOT 2018 >
      • Feast Schedule
      • Feast messages
  • Essays
    • Psalms of Ascent >
      • Psalm 120
      • Psalm 121
      • Psalm 122
      • Psalm 123
      • Psalm 124
      • Psalm 125
      • Psalm 126
      • Psalm 127
      • Psalm 128
      • Psalm 129
      • Psalm 130
    • Yes, There Is Good News!
    • Timely Comments - Blog
    • Christian Walk
    • Holy Days >
      • Passover >
        • children's lessons
      • Days of Unleavened Bread >
        • children's lessons
      • Pentecost >
        • children's lessons
      • Trumpets >
        • children's lessons
      • Atonement >
        • children's lessons
      • Feast of Tabernacles >
        • children's lessons
      • Eighth Day >
        • children's lessons
    • Holidays
  • Current Sabbath School
    • Sabbath School 2023
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        • Photos from Michael
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        • Gardening photos
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        • More Apple Photos
      • August 2014 - New orphans
      • September 2014 - Education >
        • September photos
      • October 2014 - Cyclone
      • December 2014
    • Hebron - 2015 >
      • January 2015
      • March 2015
      • April 2015 - Passover
      • October 2015 >
        • Ice Cream photos
    • Hebron - 2016 >
      • January 2016 photos
      • Passover 2016 >
        • Passover photos
      • Pentecost photos 2016
      • July 2016 - Evening Prayers
      • Apples - July 2016
      • Aug 2016
    • Hebron Building Project >
      • photos of building project
    • Hebron 2017 >
      • Pentecost 2017 photos
      • July 2017 lunch photos
      • Nursing/regular students
      • Lunchtime - Oct 2017
      • Feast of Tabernacles photos
      • October Thank You
      • Nursing Students
      • December photos
    • Hebron 2018 >
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      • Baby boy!!
      • Feast of Tabernacles 2018 >
        • Feast photos
    • Hebron 2021 >
      • Photos January 2021
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