Expect Trouble When…
His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown. – Psalm 7:16 NKJV.
…but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil…. – Romans 2:8-9a NKJV.
The NIV makes Romans 2:8-9a more clear: But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil.
In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me. – Psalm 86:7 NKJV.
Michael Orchard saved the dog! Michael risked his life driving his BMW across neighbor’s lawns smashing through fences to rescue the dog from the fire. Once he was at the neighbor’s home that was on fire, he broke through their patio door at the back of the house, and rescued a large white dog. When police officers arrived Michael was standing a safe distance away from the home holding the dog. Michael’s a hero right? Wrong. The house WAS NOT on fire! Michael admitted that he had taken cough medicine (was that cough medicine with hydrocodone?) and also mixed in LSD with the cough medicine. Michael has found himself to be in some trouble from his “rescue” of the dog. (Daily Mail 10.16.16; New York Daily News 10.15.16; TimesUnion 10.14.16)
When Michael took the cough medicine and mixed in LSD he could have rightfully expected…trouble to follow, as in go directly to jail. When an elementary teacher in Wisconsin went on a student field trip drunk she could have rightfully expected…trouble to follow, as in fired. If you drink too much and get in your car and drive off…you can rightfully expect trouble to follow, as in arrest, jail or prison. If you rob a bank you can rightfully expect…trouble to follow. If you, because of road rage, run someone off the road or start shooting at other vehicles you can rightfully expect…trouble to follow.
There is a general spiritual rule here as the Psalmist says, “His trouble shall return upon his own head….” As the apostle Paul indicates in Romans 2 if you do evil you can expect trouble and distress to follow. If you rob, steal, vandalize, and hurt people it will not turn out well for you. If you oppress others, cheat others, or curse others it will not turn out well for you.
How can we avoid trouble? The Bible has some excellent advice:
Romans 13:13 NKJV, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”
2 Timothy 2:23 NKJV, “But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.”
James 4:1-3 NKJV, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”
Psalm 1:1-3 NKJV, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”
To sum this up: If you cause trouble you can expect trouble. If you do what is right, you can avoid much trouble.