Troubled or Trembling Before God

Well, good afternoon once again, everybody. If you would please open up your Bibles, and if you would join me over in John 16 and verse 33. John 16 and verse 33 is in very unique real estate within the Bible. It is on that last evening of our Savior's physical life that He spent time with His followers and with His disciples. He gave them clear, solid, direct communication as to what they would need in the future so as to be able to follow Him fully, completely, willingly. Notice what it says in John 16 and verse 33. These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good share. I have overcome the world. You talk about a high five. You talk about a solid declaration of positivity and confidence. Jesus Christ was giving that not only to those gentlemen on that evening, but all of us on this day. Even so, on that night, with all of this being said and done, we know that those twelve disciples took flight and ran for a while in the garden, leaving God in the flesh alone. Because indeed they were very troubled with everything that was surrounding them, that had come upon them, and they just simply didn't handle it. Because after all that Jesus had said on that evening in that upper room, they felt that they were alone. And indeed, for the moment, they were, at least for that time. As I state this, as I talk about an incident that was nearly two thousand years ago, I realize that in talking to any Christian audience, I can also be talking to Christians who very much today feel alone. Some of us today, or tomorrow, or if not this week, will need to make a decision as to whether or not to be troubled or to tremble before God. To tremble before His word, to tremble before our God, or to be troubled by that which is around us. Don't quite know where your area of trouble is. You may not quite know where my area of potential trouble is. But when we're human beings, we realize that life does bring troubles. That's why I'd like to address this topic today. And not only preach, but maybe meddle a little bit with all of you. Get in a little bit deeper. Talk about situations that are confronting us at the personal level. And to ask ourselves whether or not the big question is, are we simply troubled and or are we trembling before God? Now, it's very interesting if you're with me and there's a reason why I'm doing this. Because those words kind of seem similar, don't they? Troubling, trembling, trouble and tremble. But I want to guarantee you, if you'll stay with me for but a bit, you'll recognize that I'm really talking about different approaches, different outcomes, one without God and one with God. Recently, I had the opportunity to read a book. It was entitled, A Way of Seeing by a lady named Edith Shafer. And her writings in this book gave me cause and pause to reflect on my own actions towards God and my own actions towards all of you.

And my own actions towards that which faces me in the future as God brings opportunity and challenge towards me. But I'm not the only one that is granted opportunity and challenge by God. All of us are, aren't we? And that's why I'd like to, for a few minutes today, take into consideration some of the things that Edith Shafer brought out. At the end of the day, or at the end of the chapter that I read in this particular book, it allowed me to consider this simple point. I can either be overwhelmed by life's circumstances and or I can be overwhelmed by God's goodness and God's greatness. Now, as I say this, I know all of us out in this room, to one degree or another, right now have overwhelming situations before us. Marriage, employment, finances, school, neighbors, in-laws, outlaws, mid-laws, challenges even as to how a Christian community ought to get along together. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming, but again the basic question comes to you and me on this Sabbath day, are we going to be overwhelmed by that which is around us or overwhelmed by that which is in us, which is the companionship of God. Edith Shafer, in a particular chapter, focused on three specific accounts of persons that had the word troubled attached to them. So the key word, stay with me, is trouble. Some for right reasons, some for wrong reasons, but it's amazing whether it's for right reasons or wrong reasons, it all comes out to the glory of God. Let's tie these three accounts together. Let's give this message a specific name, and this is the title of the message, troubled or trembling before God. Let's talk about the first account. Join me if you would, back in the Old Testament.

And as is so often the case in the Bible, it seems there's a lot of challenges around water. Join me if you would in the book of Jonah. The book of Jonah. Now that's on page 1067 in my Bible, because you can flip through those minor prophets, but even the minor prophets have a major message for each of us, don't they? Here is a situation where Jonah's life became intermingled with the life of others.

And before Jonah came into their life, they had a fairly well-ordered life. They were fishermen and they were sailors and they were out and about. But all of a sudden, their life turned upside down and all around. And their well-ordered life and the way that they had run their boat all of a sudden seemed dismantled because of a major and tremendous and gigantic storm that bore down on them. Just a little bit like us sometimes, where Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday kind of went all right and very well ordered, all according to Hoyle.

And then you get the phone call or you get the note in the mail or you get the message on your email or you get a message from a family member and all of a sudden everything that seems so well ordered all of a sudden is in chaos. I don't know if any of you have ever been on a storm out on a lake or out on the ocean.

Very exciting! And that boat that you thought was so big and so gigantic all of a sudden becomes like a speck and a like a little peck in a world of water. And you really begin to recognize how big the water is and how small you are. This is a story that happened in Jonah. We notice and pick up the thought in chapter 1 verse 5 where it says, well let's pick up in verse 4, but the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to be broken up.

It says specifically, notice friends, that it was the Lord that sent the storm or the tempest. And it was about to be broken up, you know, no amount of rubber bands, paper clips, or staples, or even superglue was going to keep this boat together.

Then the mariners were afraid and every man cried out to his God and threw the cargo that was in the ship to the sea to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest part of the ship, had laid down, and was fast asleep, which is amazing in itself. I think there are many ways of even looking at this specific facet of Jonah's personality. Obviously, he was detached. Obviously, he was non-caring. Obviously, I think, in looking at this, he was in also deep depression.

Also, he was probably most likely thinking that he could still hide from his God, that somehow he was out of reach. So the captain came to him and said to him, What do you mean, sleeper? Arise! Call on your God! Perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish. And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know, for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.

So they cast the lots and they fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, Please tell us, for whose cause is this trouble come upon us? What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you? Then notice what Jonah said. So he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and made the dry land.

Here we find the name of Jonah, a man who is of the covenant people, and his name is directly associated with trouble. This is important. We come to find, as is so often in life, when the storms of life are battering down on us, or the hurricane is coming through the window, everybody is trying to either hold up the window, hold up the roof, or bail the water out of the boat like they're doing Jonah.

And once you have a moment's break after you're doing all of that, trying to save yourself, you're saying, Who got us into this problem anyway? Let's find out who it is. Who is, indeed, the troublemaker? And that's what they did. They took a timeout, cast lots, and it was Jonah. It was Jonah's fault. Now, the reason why I am bringing this up to you, dear friends, is simply this.

Jonah was an individual of the covenant. We, too, are individuals of a covenant. Covenant individuals have a relationship and responsibilities to carry out. Jonah was not. His refusal to believe that God's word to him was of primary importance and more important than anything else, and to act upon it in that moment of history not only affected him, but affected all of those sailors that were on board that ship with him on that day.

And even as the sailors were having a dramatic moment, also the people of Nineveh, who were being deprived of what God wanted to care of them. Why? Because Jonah, a person of the covenant, refused the clear instruction of the word. And his actions did not only affect him, but affected many, many others.

It was Jonah who was causing the trouble, because he pushed aside what God had spoken to him and what God wanted him to speak to others and had gone the complete opposite direction. You know, we often grow up in America, and we are mindful of what Horace Greeley said. The editor of the New York paper, he said, you know, go west, young man, go west.

Well, when God's word came to Jonah, he had said, Jonah, young man, Jonah, young man, go east. Jonah said, no, I like Horace Greeley's idea better. I'll go west. I'm going to take a Mediterranean cruise. I want to go to the suncoaster of Tarshish, which was the ancient name for Spain.

Now, some of you are smiling out there. Thank you. It was meant to be a little humorous. But how often do we, when God clearly speaks out of his word, and we've asked him through the prompting of his Spirit to speak to us, and God says to go east, you and I either stand still and bulk like a Missouri mule, sorry, Missourians, and we go the opposite direction, not recognizing and are selfishness apart from God, that our actions are not only going to affect us, but are going to affect those that are around us.

Jonah was clearly responsible for that storm that was affecting others. He was taking it upon himself to be also responsible for the spiritual ignorance of an entire city that it took days to cross with multiple thousands of people, because all he could do is think of himself.

Happily for the sailors, Jonah ultimately confessed his sins. We find that over in the next chapter, chapter 2 and verse 7. But he had to go deeper than the hull of a ship. He had to be in the belly of that great fish. He finally came to his spiritual senses in verse 7. When my soul fainted within me, I finally got it. That's the web repair phrase. God said, okay, I remembered the eternal, and my prayer went up to you into your holy temple. Jonah confessed his sins.

He learned a tremendous lesson in the belly of the fish. And for that moment, the history of that boat and the history of the great city of Nineveh was changed. And it's interesting that if I can take you back to chapter 1 and verse 9, he didn't just simply parrot as far as information what was in verse 9, but he now believed it. So he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.

This prophet of God, because Jonah had other interaction on behalf of God towards others, got it. That he was there to serve the living God. Not just theory, not just something in a book, but something that owns the entire universe. And that he grants us opportunity to give us his word, his instruction. And frankly, in things that sometimes are just so very, very tough. Here's my question to you, friends. Let's make it down deep and personal. What are you doing in your life right now going west? When God has told you and has the expectation of a Christian going east, what part of God's word don't you get doesn't fit? Discard it. That you, not the sailors, have thrown overboard, thinking that you can come up with the same result without following the words and the directives of the living God. In God's book, one plus one equals two. For every cause, there is an effect.

That is the lesson of Jonah. And today we are challenged, right now, today, as to whether or not we are running from God or we are going to walk with God. And that, okay, well, you know, I didn't have the message yet, Mr. Weber, today that I didn't get the thing about Tarshish and I, you know, nothing's come down saying, go west, young man. No, this whole Bible is about going west, young lady, going west, young man. This Bible tells you where God wants you to go with him and how to get there step by step, principle by principle, commandment by commandment, example by example, by the living word, Jesus Christ. This is called, did I say west? I meant east, because to stay with Jonah, you go east. That's it. This is God's word to us. To the degree we follow it is to the degree we are blessed. Taking a position of trembling before the living God, believing in Him, and intending to act upon what He says and for whom not only affects you but affects everybody.

I want to show you a verse here in Jeremiah 48 verse 10. Jeremiah 48 verse 10. We say, well, Mr. Weber, in my life, the challenge that's on me right now, I'm not going east or west. I'm just kind of standing still, doing nothing. Because I've read the book of Jonah, so I know I better not go west. I don't want to go east, so I'm just kind of sitting on the rock. Notice what it says here. Cursed is He who does the work of the Lord deceitfully. This is specific in talking about the sin of commission, committing something, doing something wrong. Folks, that's back. But then notice what it says. And cursed is He who keeps back His sword from the blood. This is the biblical definition of the sin of omission. Doing nothing. Sitting still.

Sitting still like Jonah did in the hull of the ship while everybody else was bailing out the water. Sitting still when an entire empire, civilization, city, was to be demolished because of the sins of the people. And he didn't care enough because he was more concerned about himself than with others.

Let's understand something. Join me if you would in 2 Corinthians 1.

Jonah was a member of a covenant people. You and I are members of a covenant people. He of the old, we of the new. Often times people will have a theology or they will have a way of life or religion that is simply vertical and goes up to God and is really tight. There is no God but God.

But they don't have a horizontal expression of that passion. They are tight with God but they haven't shared it with others. Notice 2 Corinthians 1. Let's start in verse 3.

There's that word trouble.

We cannot be stingy with God's love, with God's mercy, with God's patience, with God's peace, with God's grace. We cannot only be vertical, we must be horizontal. Very important.

Bottom line is simply this. I want you to think about and reflect as we go into this week. None of us are an island. Remember Simon and Garfunkel, about 66, singing, No Man is a Rock. We are truly not alone. Think about this for a moment. All of us have been by a pond. All of us have been by a lake at one time or another. We've taken a rock. I throw a rock into the air and where it lands I know not where it... No, that's long, fella. That's about arrows. Anyway, little American literature. You plop the stone or the rock into the middle of the pond. What do you have? What happens? Somebody help me. You have that ripple out effect until it touches every shore. Right? You've heard that before. But wonder if we have the non-ripple effect. I wonder if God uses us or desires us wherever you are in whatever capacity in life, in marriage, in parenting, in extended family, at the job, in the school, in the congregation.

I wonder if no rock is thrown at all. I wonder if no motion at all is made because of our selfishness and not wanting to be utilized by God.

So often we're not utilized by God because we're not trembling before Him, which I'll finish up at the end, but we're simply troubled. But that takes us to the second individual I'd like to talk about. Another gentleman was asked if he was the troubles. His name was Elijah. Join me if you would in 1 Kings 18.

This is the classic confrontation of where Ahab, the ruler of the Northern Kingdom, Samaria, had called for the prophet. You see, they'd been having some tough times. The first story, there was too much water and too much rain. In the time of Ahab, there was no rain. It had not rained for over three years. Now, I know we're a little used to that in Southern California, but this was of the divine nature. We find in 1 Kings 18 verse 16. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. Now, this is kind of, can I be blunt? This is going to be a little gutsy. What's about to happen here? Then it happened when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab, who said, is that you, oh, trouble of Israel?

Here comes the poop. Here comes the sour puss. Here comes the downer. Here comes Mr. Negativity himself. He was trying to cut Elijah down to size before he even got to the throne. And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and you have followed the bales.

Now, it's amazing, just to this part of the story, you find a specific difference between the two prophets, Jonah and Elijah. Jonah fled the scene like the disciples did.

Elijah walked towards the scene with confidence and with faith. Very important to understand. His message was swift. It was clear. Why is that? And why does our message need to be like his? Because this prophet believed in the living God. Now, you're going to notice there's a reason. I'm an old school teacher. I keep on using that word, living God. You say, why does he keep on mentioning those two words and putting them together? Well, that means you can't leave until this message is over, because we're going to tie it all together. You see, there's a difference between having a God and existing before a living God who rules the heavens and the earth and the seas, as Jonah finally had to admit. When you just simply have a God that's in your pocket and you bring out, kind of when you need him, you're not going to do that too often. But when your whole existence is before the living God, things begin to happen. Like here in this book and in your life, in your home, in your family, in your school, in your congregation, in that land that is between the two ears, this vast expanse that is here, that is bigger than any battlefield, be it Waterloo or wherever, right here. Here, when we worship before the living God, we become transformed. Things begin to happen. We notice that Elijah turned it around. He called Ahab the Troubler, because both Elijah and Ahab knew that the trouble was not just simply that the clouds weren't coming over in the normal pattern, but it was because of, again, specifically something that this king was doing. First King 16, notice this, First King 16. Again, remembering, friends, something that I heard growing up many years ago, for every cause there is an effect.

Speaking of this king and his family, then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. Speaking of Ahab, and Ahab made a wooden image, and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

You might say that Ahab was just on one big, bad roll. And you might want to look up Psalms 115. I'm not going to go there right now. Psalms 115 verses 1 through 8, which is just an apt description of the nothingness of idols, the nothingness of what man wraps up in wood or ivory or gold, things that people put importance upon that are not going to help them, that aren't going to bring the rain over Samaria, and are not going to bring the answer in our lives as a covenant people that we need on this Saturday and tomorrow, Sunday and Monday and Tuesday.

Elijah worshiped and served before the living God and had that confidence that even in scary moments, you know, here you are before Elijah. I wonder if you were before Ahab and Ahab's, oh, you trouble of Israel. You and I probably in a week or a moment, you know, like the cowardly lion, you know, and the wizard of a whoo-hoo. Who me? You know that famous scene where the where Burt Larr goes running down the hallway and slides out of there? I happen to really like that move down. Sorry. Somewhere I see myself in there. And it ain't Dora, I think. Okay. Or Toto. The dog.

No. Are we saying that it was easy for Elijah? Do you think that he wasn't maybe quivering a little bit? Yeah. He's human. But his heart wasn't shaking. Because he recognized that he had to follow the word of God and the word of God and directed him to the king of Samaria. And why is it so often that the people that are causing the trouble try to turn the tables and make you out to be the individual? Oh, if they would just go away. Oh, if they would just be quiet. Oh, if they, oh, and oh, and oh, no. God's word is direct. It is clear. It is dynamic. It is to strengthen us. It is to encourage us. It is to fortify us. It is to give us the spiritual vitamins that we need to glorify God, whether it be in our family, our neighborhood, our congregation, our school.

Now, we recognize that all of this set up then a tremendous story where it went from this to back in verse 18 where we we had this whole story of the setup of the the offerings. I mean, we find that in 1 Kings 18 where we know that the the priest of of Baal set up and they were moaning and groaning and moaning and groaning. And you know the story. Elijah said out louder, please turn up the volume. Maybe your God's not listening to you today. Hello. Is anybody up there? Of course, we know then that ultimately how that consuming fire came down. I want to share something with you to cut to the quick. Join me if you would here in 1 Kings 18 verse 41.

This is after having faced off Ahab, having faced the 450 priests of Baal. Then Elijah said to Ahab, go up, eat, and drink. For there is the sound of the abundance of rain.

Do we want to be God's instruments, friends? Do we want to glorify God? We need to recognize that sometimes the glory and the glorification that goes to God is on the other side of the panic that we feel. It's not on this side. So often I see the difference between people that are troubled and people that are trembling properly before their God is on this side. And it is what we do on this side as far as recognizing that it is the living God that is called upon us. It is the living Word of God that we are to follow, and not our own hearts, not our own minds, not our own human reasoning, not our own self-justification, not our own self-righteousness, but just doing the Word the way that it is met out before us with the help of the Spirit and the example of Christ. And sometimes life is just a little scary and a little overwhelming. Sometimes it's just a lot overwhelming. But God says, do it, and the greater the need, the greater the grace will be supplied.

It's interesting that Ahab's example is found in James 5. Join me, James 5, at the very end of James. Fascinating what it says here.

James 5. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. It wasn't like he was Superman, a human being, but he understood the divine nature of the living God and his sovereignty in his life and his desire to do his will. And he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. Elijah was not troubled, even though he had been called a trouble-er. He trembled at God's word. Let's go to one more example, example number three. And it's about some New Testament Elijah's types. Join me if you would in Acts 16. Acts 16.

Let's pick up the thought in verse 20. This is after what we call the Macedonian call, where Paul had had the vision come over. He'd been in Troas, ancient Troy. He now goes over to Europe. It's a big leap for the gospel. Lands in Philippi, which is a part of Macedonia, named after Philip, the father of Alexander. Anyway, that's where they're at. This is the story, remember, where the girl in the marketplace was following them and began saying things, and there's that interaction there, and one thing led to another. And we come then to verse 19, but when her master saw that their hope of profit was gone, because they had been utilizing and misusing this poor human being with all of these problems, they saw their profits going down the drain. They seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. And they brought them to the magistrates and said, these men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city. There's the word. Troublers. They trouble our city. And they teach customs which are not lawful for us being Romans to receive of ourselves. Then the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. This is very graphic. Their clothes are ripped from them and they are beaten with rods. Struck, stricken, bruised, beaten, blood.

Because after all, they were the troubleers, at least humanly. Then the multitude rose up together against them. I've mentioned that. Verse 23, and when they laid many stripes on them, then they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them in the inner prison. They didn't even get the outer prison.

They were going to serve time in the big house, right in the middle, no way out. And they were going to be in stocks.

But God had different plans. But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and seeing hymns to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. You know, one thing I've always found, I've told you this before, you find you want to find Christians. I always think about this when we're singing. Christians are always singing. They're not only singing at the opening of a service. They're singing when it's sad. It's singing when it looks blue. Christians always sing because they're always praising God. And the prisoners were listening to them. Amazing! A bunch of Greeks over there. And they're listening to these two guys sing praises towards God. And suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundation of the prison was shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awakening from sleep and seeing the prisoner doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a light, ran in and fell down, trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? So they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, and you and your household. Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in that house. And he took him that same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all of his family, the jailer, were baptized. Now I have a question for you as we begin to conclude, friends. What if Paul and Silas had been like Jonah and not gone where they were asked by the word of the living God to go?

The word of the living God had come to Jonah, saying, Go east, young man, go east. He says, No, I've got a better idea. I'm going to go west. I dig Spain.

When the Macedonian call came, that vision to Paul, a troll as, he said, The living God has spoken to me. I must go where he directs.

Now when they came into Philippi, you've got to recognize that that's how the Philippian church began. They had the the foreign gal, Lydia, the seller of purple.

They had the lady with the multiple personalities.

And later on, they got the jailer.

First, three members. Are you with me? First, three members of the church in Europe. Welcome to the church of God. What a group. But God takes our weakness and makes it strong before him.

We will simply follow the lead of the living word.

And the greater the need, the greater the grace.

Now, when you think about the story of Elijah and the fire coming down from the heaven and the consuming, well, God has more than one miracle up his sleeve because he did an inner earthquake in that jail to make a point to Paul and to Silas that they were not alone.

He made a point to the city that he is the God of heaven and earth and the sea under.

And all of this was directed towards that jailer to bring him to conversion. And all of this because the world looked at them, Paul and Silas, as they did Elijah as a troubled. But they weren't. They were just simply trembling before the living word of God. I have a question for you. Are we trembling before the word of the living God? I'd like to just jot down a few verses and bring you to conclusion. You can jot. I'll mention. It's fascinating when you go through both the Old Testament and the New Testament. You can do your own study on this. How often the terminology is made of the living God, living God. In Deuteronomy 5 and verse 26, it says that the living God appeared before Moses in the bush. It wasn't the bush that was living. It wasn't the fire that was living. It was the living God that was giving Moses encouragement before he set him off on the task at hand. Joshua 3 and verse 10. Here's Joshua following a legend like Moses, now needing to lead the people into the Promised Land. It says that the living God appeared before Joshua.

1 Samuel 17 and verse 26. Here's a young Jewish boy from Bethlehem facing a big guy, the NBA player of his time, Goliath. He says, Do you not know that you have come and you have smeared the armies of the living God? Not a boy, not some young Jew, not just some hick from Bethlehem. You are appearing before the living God. 2 Corinthians 6 verse 16. Last one. You can read them this afternoon. Speaks of you and me as the temple, the residence of the living God. The difference between being in trouble and trembling, rightfully so, is how you view God and him living in your life. As we reflect upon who we've talked about today, we find individuals whose name is associated with some form of trouble, whether they started it or whether they were it or others troubled them.

Who are we in this story? Who are we in this message, as we conclude? Are we a Jonah who troubles others by running away from responsibility? What responsibility are we running away from today that God says, I am with you, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world, I am with you, I want you to glorify me, I know it looks tough, I know it looks hard, I know it looks impossible what is before you to accomplish, but I am the living God. And or are we, for we that are in positions of leadership, are we in Ahab who have defaulted on leadership when we have been granted opportunity to direct and to guide a covenant people? Or are we a Paul and a Silas who were persecuted for obeying God and telling it like it is? Who are we? Well, only you can come up with that question, but I know who God is. He is the living God. Let's conclude one verse, Philippians 2. Let's bring trouble and trembling together. Philippians 2.

Verse 12. Philippians 2 verse 12. Therefore, my beloved, you that may be troubled today, and or are being troubled, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear, that means with respect and with trembling, not trembling like a science fiction movie or a mystery movie. The trembling that is being spoken about in the Greek is the trembling that comes when one is engaged in a relationship. And because you are loved and you love in return, you do not want to disappoint at all. It is a trembling that comes out of desire, desire to honor and please the compact and the covenant that we are within. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Whether you were one of the 12 on that night of nights, whether you are Jonah, whether you are Elijah, or whether you are Paul and Silas, whoever you are, you and I have the opportunity not to be troubled but to tremble before the living God.

For it is God who works in you both to be troubled but to be troubled by the living God.