We got trouble

Right here in River City.

Trouble with a capital “T”

And that rhymes with “B”

And that stands for “bee!”

Bees (and wasps) are trouble.

Big ones, little ones,  bumble bees, yellow jackets,  honey bees.  They’re all the send-me-to-the-emergency-room-if-they-sting-me kind of trouble.

Trouble with a capital “T.”

But who is there that doesn’t have some kind of trouble?  Becoming a Christian doesn’t give us a get-out-of-jail-free card and exempt us from all difficulties in life. We can expect trouble.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33  NIV

What happens when (not if) troubles come into our lives?  Does God just give us a quick pat on the head, saying,  “Yeah, life is tough . . . See ya later?”  No, Jesus cares about the condition of our heart, and He wants to give us His peace in place of fear.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John14:27

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

John 16:33  NIV

God is there in the middle of our difficulties to strengthen and help us.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3, 4  NIV

It’s hard to see how anything good can come out of our troubles, but this verse in 2 Corinthians give us a clue.  The comfort that God extends to us is multiplied as we share that comfort with others going through their own difficult times.  We see how this multiplying works with the sunflower.  One sunflower, grown from one seed, visited and pollinated by troublesome (to me) bees can produce hundreds of seeds, and those hundreds of plants could produce thousands of seeds.

So the next time

 Ya got trouble, terrible trouble

Right here in River City.

(right where you live)

Trouble with a capital “T”

And that rhymes with “P”

And that rhymes with “C”

And that stands for “pool”  “peace”

And that stands for “comfort”

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“Ya Got Trouble” from “The Music Man”

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photos by Barb Briggs