The Best Way to Prepare for Trouble

“The best way to prepare for trouble…is to plan to profit because of it”.

Every person will face trouble in this life as Jesus said. Some will face more of it than others. Every trouble comes with three options. When the trouble is over and passed, one of three things will have happened to you.

1. You will have been defeated by it.
2. You will have survived it.
3. You will have profited from it.

Which one of these three things that happens, will largely depend on how you plan the end result of your trouble. That may come as a shock to you…that you can plan the end result of your trouble…but it is true. You are not subject to the outcome of your trial, the outcome of your trial is subject to you. You may not have a say in whether or not you go through the trial…but you do have a great deal to say about the end result of it. That is the prerogative that has been given to you by the Lord. Jesus is the Lord over all things, and as a co-heir and partner with Him, that means you have a share in His authority.

You have a say.

Look at those 3 things again. The first one is a minus. Something will be taken from you as a result of your current problem. The second one is a zero. That means you make it through without suffering loss but that is all. You have gained nothing. You have simply survived the scenario thrust upon you. The third one is a plus. You actually take something with you at the end. You are actually better off than before you were put into the trouble. Remember your basic math positive and negative tables? I did poorly in math, but I do remember this:

-10 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10

There is a minus part of the equation. There is a zero part of the equation. And there is a plus part of the equation. Every trial carries with it three possibilities. You get to choose which one will happen to you. As I said, you may not get to say whether or not the trial happens, or if trouble goes on around you, but you absolutely get to dictate how it will affect you. Most of us just hope to get out of the thing alive. Just get me through this Lord! But that is not the Lords intent…simply your survival. He wants you to thrive. To gain from the events surrounding you. Let me make this point perfectly clear:

There is something waiting for you within this trouble that you could not get otherwise.

That’s one reason God allows it rather than stopping it. Because there is a benefit in it for you. Something you wouldn’t otherwise be able to attain. It would be a shame to miss out on the gold and simply go through the fire. Fire is hot and uncomfortable and it hurts. We are not called to go through fire just to go through it…but to get the gold. Hear what Jesus said about our trouble or trials:

“I counsel you to buy from Me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich…” Rev 3:18

We settle for the fire of trial, without the corresponding gold that is ours as a result. The gold is what makes the trial worthwhile. Imagine going through the trial and settling only for survival. Phew…at least I made it through. No! I want the gold! I want to be conformed to the image of Jesus! I want to be nearer to Him!

Trouble has a purpose.

I had a vision some years ago. I saw a man going into a cave. He had no proper clothing or light or prior preparation. He went in the cave. It was dark and damp and he kept hitting his head. He stumbled and fell. He had a very rough time of it. It was miserable and painful. When he finally came out, I heard him say these words: “I hope I never have to go through that again”. Who can blame him? I would feel the same way.

Then I saw another man coming to the cave. He was dressed properly. He had a flashlight. He was prepared. He looked as if he was going in with a purpose…to find something. When he came out, he too had some bumps and scrapes. It was still unpleasant for him, but he was smiling. He lifted up his hand and shouted “look what I found!” He had a beautiful colored gem stone in his hand.

He did not say anything about going back in, but I instinctively knew that he would be willing to. Not because the cave was any more pleasant for him than for the other man, but because he came out of it with something. He was better off than before. It still hurt, but it was worth it. The gem made the cave worth going through. I would not trade my trials for anything. They have made me who I am today. So it is that God intends us to not suffer loss, or simply survive the coming days ahead, but to position ourselves in such a way that we will thrive in them. He intends for us to advance in them. For His kingdom to advance. But we must prepare in order to do so. We are to conquer them, not the other way around.

Fear is a minus. Cast out fear. Faith is a plus. Embrace faith.

So the best way to prepare for trouble…is to change the way you think about it. Then, begin to prepare. They are not to be dreaded or avoided or feared. They are to be seen as something to be profited by. If I have to go into the cave…I am not coming out without that gem.

Don’t waste your trials. Prepare for them and so be advanced by them.

by Jim Moore