I Am Trouble!
By Dr. David M. Berman                                                    www.wakeupandsmellthetruth.com
 
1 Kings 18:17 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
Humankind is such that everything looked at from a worldly perspective is upside down. We often think in ways that are opposed to the positions of the scripture simply due to our emotions. Situations and circumstances move us to believe lies about what is good and what is not. Take Ahab here for example. What an interesting lesson he is. He is moved by his incessant desire to make sure that Jezebel is not unhappy with him. He is the sort that will not rock the boat. He will not lead. You know the henpecked husband type. They don't want "trouble". It is the status quo that keeps them feeling a sense of false security. The only problem is that it is false security.
Along comes Elijah. Elijah is a man who is the opposite of Ahab. Elijah cares not about what anyone thinks unless it is in keeping with God's will. Elijah had the guts to face 400 false prophets of Baal. When Ahab saw Elijah it is clear that Ahab was worried. Worried about what you ask? Well that is the point of this passage. The evil ones are always worried about what men of God will say or do. Elijah is a man who brought the truth of the word of the Lord back to his people. This he did on that faithful day when the children of Israel turned their hearts from Baal worship back to God (there is much Baal worship today). It was the day when Elijah called down the fire from heaven that consumed the alter, and showed that the God of Israel was true and that Baal was false.
Now let's get back to the "everything is upside down" point. As is often the case, the people who cause the most trouble are in most cases completely unaware that they are the cause of difficulties. Human nature is such that real troublemakers tend to blame anyone and everyone else for the problems that they cause. They particularly enjoy blaming preachers. Since our nation now dismisses sin as an antiquated idea of days gone by, it is not politically correct to mention it any longer. Sin is not simply an action of disobedience pertaining to a single evil deed. It is much more than that. Sin is a condition that every person is born in to. It is the disposition that believers and unbelievers alike are tainted by. The difference between the believer and the unbeliever is a matter of spiritual legal standing, not a matter of personal perfection one over the other. The believer simply has been pardoned of the eternal penalty of sin by the act of Christ on the cross. It is the imputation of the perfection of Christ that changes the believer into a position of innocent spiritual legal standing. It is the unbeliever who is sadly left in the mire of his own sinful condition due to his incredulous rejection of the pardon. In order for one to come to Christ, individual sin must be acknowledged. This takes humility and that is in short supply these days.
Now back to the passage. Ahab asks Elijah the question "art thou he that troubleth Israel?" What a sad commentary it is when the one who is the real trouble maker can't or won't see it. This is the state of our modern society. Our culture now thinks of bible preachers as troublers. This really is nothing new in world history. The Nation of Israel often rejected the Prophets of God as we see Ahab did in this passage.
It was not Elijah that caused the children of Israel to the false worship of Baal. It is not Elijah that caused judgment to come upon them for their idolatry. It was not Elijah that "troubleth Israel". It was Ahab and Jezebel who caused the trouble and God sent his man to shake up the people so that once again real trouble would leave Israel.
The Kings of the earth often pay lip service to the things of God. For most in power the end goal is always more power. There are winks and nods to Christians until Christians actually get serious about influencing society. We have learned from history that it is not Christian people that cause the real trouble. It is the leaders like the weak Ahab and his wife Jezebel who usurped authority over her wimpy husband.
Psalms 2:2-4 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
   How about those Kings of the earth, politicians, leaders of institutions, and rulers of governments? The powerful are so enamored with their own power that without Christ they lose perspective. They live in the environment that caters to their human pride. They are often sheltered from the real world and soon become fixated on their own seemed invincibility. How sad it is when people lose their understanding of He who governs the universe.
It is not the kings only who struggle with this great problem of perspective. All of us can become quite impressed with ourselves as we accomplish various things. We are all subject to the temptation of our own preclusions as we wax wise of our own thinking void of God. This has been and is today the problem with human led power. Power corrupts unless we are kept in check by the Holy Spirit as we humble ourselves under conviction.
Many think they are so wise that they preclude listening to what the Lord says. The wisdom of the ages is a force that will not be shaken nor disposed of in the end. It may seem to the natural man that his wisdom, power, and might are the highest form of thinking and even above the wisdom of the bible. This is the beginning of the end for the one who purchases such deception; "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). In the end it will not matter how wise one is, how rich one is, or how many seek the counsel of the kings of the earth.  We ought not to put our trust in kings, governments, or worldly leaders without Christ. Theirs is the way of fools who thumb their noses at the true King in whom all power and authority rests. We who know Christ are the Lords anointed people. We shall endeavor always to trust Him in all things and wisdom. The kings of the earth may believe what they will, conspire against the Lord of glory, and make every possible proclamation of their own intelligence. It will all be for naught since "he who sits in the heavens shall laugh."
We who believe are given the name of Jesus Christ as our family name. Due to this fact, we shall always be trouble to those who have turned their backs on God and his Word.
Ephesians 3:14-15 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
Life is filled with causes. There is hardly a day that goes by that we do not hear of a particular cause to rally to. The causes we hear of may be political, social, or radical, but no cause can rival the ultimate cause. Some causes are quite useless. We know that often city gangs are totally sold out to the cause of keeping their turf. What a bizarre way there is about people. So many desire to fight for a cause simply for the sake of fighting, and yet when given the real cause of eternity to fight for they often balk.
What do you bow your knee to? What cause ignites passion in your heart and fire in your bones? What reason do you get out of bed in the morning? There are many good causes that we all believe in. All of us feel it important to be involved with helping a neighbor, working for our families, supporting charities, and so many other wonderful things.
The Apostle Paul here clearly speaks of the cause of Christ as he also does in the beginning of Ephesians chapter three verse one "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles". Here the Apostle speaks of himself being a "prisoner". He states this because he is chained to the cause of spreading the family name of heaven and seeing more people adopted into the Christian family. For Paul, the cause is Christ and the spreading of the gospel. The Apostle would agree with many important causes that we all fight for, however nothing is as important as the one matchless name, the name above all names, the only name whereby we must be saved, and that name is Jesus. The whole family of God in heaven and earth is named after the Christian family name; Jesus. To be looked at as a trouble maker is a small price to when compared to the glory of helping people come to Christ.
A family name was not small thing in biblical times. The family name spoke of who you were joined to, what wealth you had, and who anyone could expect to deal with should they attempt any harm on a member of that particular family name. For believers, the family name is Jesus (meaning salvation). Whoever thinks that they can in any way harm a believer without having that believer's eternal Father deal with them is sadly deceived. We who are saved by the blood of the lamb were bought with the precious blood of Christ and have become the children of God. This blessing we have purely by receiving the only name whereby we can be saved. Whatsoever we do, we do in the name of Jesus Christ because all that we do speaks of what family name we carry. Our cause is Christ and our passion is our eternal family.
We may be called ones who "troubleth" but the truth is that it is those who continue to hate preachers, fight against the Lord, and reject the name of the eternal family that are the real makers of trouble. Our troubles are many and mostly due to our nations rejection of the biblical Christian world view. So I say yes I am trouble to those who are like Ahab the weak wimpy king, and yes I am trouble to the Jezebel feminist movement that seeks to usurp authority. I am trouble because I preach the bible. The bible stirs up the water. Preachers are called to proclaim the truth and therefore it is no surprise that we are the ones looked at as troublers, when in truth we actually bring the Word of God to make right the troubled waters that the rejection of God has brought. I pray that more Christians gain the guts necessary to be called trouble. To make the difference we must be willing to   stir thing up so we may do as Elijah did. He turned back the hearts of the people of God back to God. I pray that our nation will return to God by our efforts to destroy the forces of evil with the power of the truth