Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.
As sure as heat rises, men gets into trouble. Sparks drift upwards from the fire and man drifts downwards into it. This is what it means to be a man. While we may not live long, our days are guaranteed to often feel long while also feeling too short. Either way, we feel the weight of living. We may not be able to hang on to many of our days, but we will all hoard up plenty of trouble. Our lives may not amount to much, but whatever they are, they will have much trouble.
Job 14:1
Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble.
To be alive is to be in trouble. Trouble is inescapable, a question of "what kind?" instead of "what if?" The difficulty comes in discovering that this isn't entirely bad. God made man for trouble. Granted, man made a great deal more of it for himself than was necessary by breaking covenant with God;but nevertheless, even in a perfect world, there was and would have been trouble. There was a wild world to gardenize, a bride to pursue, children to raise, crops to harvest, etc...
Lamentations 3:27
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
A little bit of trouble is good for a man. The trouble of naming all the animals was good. It was work and it introduced more trouble than if God just did it Himself.
"It is the empty wagon that rattles." - Donald Grey Barnhouse
A wagon without a load groans and gripes at every bump in the road, but a wagon weighed down by a load rolls along without a word. The trouble of a heavy load heals the trouble of a bored soul. It is the young man with nothing to do that often finds himself in wrong kind of trouble. He would do well to be weighed down by the right kind and the sooner the better.
N.D. Wilson once pointed out that there is good trouble and bad trouble, God trouble and man trouble. In those distinctions, four kinds of trouble can be identified. Because there are two types of people: godly and ungodly, there will always be some kind of trouble. You can't be at peace with all peoples because all peoples are not at peace with each other.
Good God trouble is being given the commission to disciple the world by being fruitful and multiplying with you and your wife as the only two people on earth and the entire, unseen world to explore and cultivate.
Bad God trouble is being kicked out of the only civilized place in the entire world because rather than beginning the work of extending that pattern to the rest of creation, you introduced a new pattern which would extend over all creation - sin. Instead of spreading the good of the garden, rebellious man spread the sickness of sin over the globe.
Good man trouble is experiencing resistance from those who prefer the fallen world to the kingdom of God. It is the trouble of trying to disciple the nations and resisting their attempts to disciple you. This is a good kind of trouble to have inasmuch as it confirms your allegiance to God. In this sense, good man trouble is good because it comes from God, which also makes it good God trouble. This kind of trouble goes away if you go away from God, but it's the kind you gladly invite because it is the kind that comes from sticking by His side.
Bad man trouble is being at odds with someone else because of sin. This can be watching someone wilt under your criticism or wilting under the vitriol of someone else's. It can be the temptation to bitterness or envy towards others or enduring their bitterness or envy of you. It is not the kind of trouble you want to be in and it is the kind you should attempt to get out of or avoid if possible. When it is your sin causing it, repent and attempt reconciliation and restitution where necessary and/or possible. If it is someone else's, forgive them. When you follow God your attempts to be at peace with others may not always prosper, but you can only do what you can do. That said, you must do what you can do
Romans 12:18
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
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