When Things Go Wrong

What do you do when things go wrong? The answer to that question reveals a lot about who we are and where our confidence is placed.

Equal Opportunity Situations

Everybody (saved and unsaved alike) enjoys the good days, right? My wife and I have a running joke about that attitude. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, and all is right with the world. We’re riding high and we have no worries. We feel good about ourselves, and all is well – or is it?

It’s easy to feel good about life, and ourselves, when things are going the way we want them to. You have a good job, or you’re getting the grades you want in school, or that special relationship you’ve been working at is humming along nicely. Everybody thinks they are sitting on top of the world. But what about when things go wrong? How do we respond?

Revelation of Self

Jesus had a few things to say about how we respond when things go wrong. According to Him, how we endure difficult times reveals what our lives are built on, spiritually-speaking.

Matthew 7:24-27

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.  (NKJV)

Notice that the things He described happened to both individuals. The rain fell on both of them. The floods came upon both of them. The winds blew on both of them. The only difference between the two people was what happened as a result of the storm they experienced! The wise man had built his house on the rock (God’s Word) and he weathered the storm. The foolish man built his house on the sand and he couldn’t stand up under the pressure.

When we go through the storms of life our core personality is revealed. We will either draw closer to the Lord or we will pull away from Him. We can either complain about the things we endure or we can seek to find the peace which only comes from Christ.

We find, then, that the storms we face show us where our focus and trust is placed; either in ourselves or in Jesus!

Preparing For the Storms

Those who don’t know Christ are subject to whatever happens to them in life. They are on their own, without meaningful direction. They may think they have everything figured out, but in reality, they are unprepared for what will come – the storms of life. However, Jesus wasn’t referring to those people in the passage above – His reference was to the people of God. He stated that both men heard the Word of God, but they acted differently.

When things are going well we tend to think that we’re in control and that we don’t need the Lord. That sense of self-righteousness and self-sufficiency happened in Israel just as it happens to us. We start making decisions based on what we think is best instead of seeking the Lord for direction, and the results are often disastrous.

The time to prepare for a storm is when the weather is fair, not when the weather is bad. Just as the wise man, we have the chance to prepare for life’s storms now while things are going well.

Through Good Times and Bad

The thing to do is set our hearts and minds on seeking the Lord at all times and in everything we do. It’s even more important to become established in our relationship with Christ while things are going well. Through good times and bad, we have opportunities to check ourselves and seek to grow closer to God. As we do so, when things go wrong (as we know they will!) we will have a spiritual foundation that stands up under the testing of our faith.

As we read His Word, pray, and follow His leading, we prepare ourselves for the storms that will eventually come – when things go wrong.