Song Analysis: The Troubles

Even though I didn’t sense it at the time of my health storm this statement in verse 3 summarizes things perfectly well. “The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength.”

I really enjoy listening to the U2 album ‘Songs of Innocence’ for a number of reasons. One song called The Troubles has this incredible chorus which repeats “Somebody stepped inside your soul, somebody else is in control”.[6] I think the idea behind it may have been lifted directly from Psalm 138:3. The New Century Version of the Bible restates this verse similarly, “On the day I called to you, you answered me. You made me strong and brave.”

In any of our ordinary lives things can get hard at times. It's full of unexpected twists and turns
Usually it’s said after a great loss or sometime after an unrelenting storm or battle where it appears that God did not intervene in time or turn the circumstances favourable. When it seems God was absent or silent. In storms we want to understand what’s going on. We question God. Often we don’t understand.

Here’s what we need to appreciate when God seems to be a million miles away or is mute to your circumstances. “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.”[7] Gracie Allen In other words, God is still speaking so keep
I find it so amazing that when you spend time reading The Word it ends up reading you. So to borrow a line from Socrates where he says; “the unexamined life is not worth living”,[7] I would add, the unexamined belief is not worth believing either. If our beliefs don’t evolve and shift and grow during our lives, then I have to wonder if we are actually paying attention or not. David the Psalmists claims “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” [7] Psalm 23:4 If you are paying attention when you walk through a dark valley, or a demonic storm where the make-believe shadow puppets are playing mind games with you, but because of your attention to His presence with you, your ‘go to’ response is not fear but trust. As a result you truly own a real faith that has been tested and tried by the hard things that life or the enemy has thrown at you.

Those long five months did not define my faith but they may have refined my faith. And that’s a good thing. You’re not defined by your past experiences either. You’re prepared by it. However, we do end up understanding ourselves better through it all. We come to find out who we really trust and whether we tend to rely on our own strength or not, when we experience pressured situations like an unrelenting