We’ll Soon Be Done with Troubles and Trials

Some of these days I’m going home
Where no sorrows ever come,
(We’ll soon be done)
We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials;
(Troubles and trials)
Safe from Heartaches, pain and care,
We shall all that glory share,
(And I’m gonna)
Sit down beside my Jesus,
(Lord, I’m gonna)
Sit down and rest a little while.

Chorus:
(We’ll soon be done)
We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials,
(Troubles and trials. In that home)
Yes, in that home on the other side,
(On the other side, and I’m gonna)
Shake glad hands with the elders,
(Lord, and)
Tell my kindred good morning,
(Then I’m gonna)
Sit down beside my Jesus,
(Lord, I’m)
Gonna sit down and rest a li’l while.

Kindred and friends now wait for me,
Soon their faces I shall see,
(We’ll soon be done)
We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials;
(Troubles and trials)
‘Tis a home of Life so fair
And we’ll all be gathered there,
(And I’m gonna)
Sit down beside my Jesus,
(Lord, I’m gonna)
Sit down and rest a little while.

I shall behold his blessed face,
I shall feel his matchless grace,
(We’ll soon be done)
We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials;
(Troubles and trials)
O what peace and joy sublime
In that home of love divine,
(And I’m gonna)
Sit down beside my Jesus,
(Lord, I’m gonna)
Sit down and rest a little while.

This particular song is one of my favorite 4 part Red-back hymnal songs – #30 for you Red-back traditionalists.  For those of you not familiar with it, here’s a link: 

The author of this hymn, Cleavant Derricks, was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1910, and is well-known for great songs like “Just a little talk with Jesus,” “When God dips His love in my heart” and “We’ll soon be done with troubles and trials.”  Rev. Derricks pastored African-American congregations in Washington DC and in several cities in Tennessee including Dayton and Knoxville.  Mr. Derricks’ music transcended skin color in a time in America when “Jim Crow” laws covered the South.  His songs, including this one, were important parts of convention books across the South in the 1940’s and 1950’s.  The message in his songs resonated with the working poor – people who were materially impoverished by the world’s standards.  His words connected with people because his words pointed them to a better place, a better future, and place where there would be no more trouble, trials, discrimination, and hatred.  A place where we could all “sit down beside our Jesus.  Sit down and rest a little while.”

Couple of comments on the lyrics:

• Kindred and friends now wait for me – This thought is a constant encouragement for me as a Christian.  That I know that there are friends and family that are waiting for me in heaven.  People like my Granny, who was a tremendous influence on my life, are waiting to wrap their arms around me and welcome me home.  Friends like Verlin Tucker who had a great impact on my life.  I know that they are waiting for me and for so many others.  I know that although they are missed tremendous on this side of Heaven, they are in the greatest place they could ever be.  Praising our Lord and Savior surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses – kindred and friends.  I am looking forward to that day when they welcome me home.

• Sit down beside my Jesus –  Although I couldn’t find a specific reference in Scripture to “sitting down beside Jesus,” I think I know what the author meant.  Yes, I believe we will bow down and worship at His feet.  Yes, I believe we will stand at the judgment seat of Christ.  But I also believe we will sit down and rest a little while.  That the Lord will say “Well done my good and faithful servant” and that we will be able to worship Him and sit down beside Him.  He is our comfort.  He is our rest.  He is our peace.  There’s no better picture than sitting down beside the Lord in Heaven, leaning on Him and resting a little while.

Many of you probably know that I am an Oklahoman.  A Sooner to be more specific.  I am and have always been a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners.  I have been asked many times “What is a Sooner?”  Without going into all the details, let me share a little behind the background of that name.  In 1889, the Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma) was opened up for settlement.  On a day in April 1889 along the entire border of the state, there was a firing of guns and cannons, and after the booming sound of the guns, anyone could go out and stake out a piece of land and lay claim to it.  People lined up along the state border.  There were on foot, on horses, and in wagons.  There were a group of people, however, who left early.  Who sneaked out before the boom of the guns and staked out territory.  They were called “Boomer Sooners” because they left before the boom.  Yes,  I realize they were cheaters, but that is a minor point.

In this song, Cleavant Derricks reminds us that we will “soon” be done with troubles and trials.  The question I have for you is “are you a Sooner?”  Do you have a heavenly perspective on the trials of this life – the perspective that says – these trials and tribulations will soon be over?  Paul instructs us about this mindset in 2 Corinthians 4:16 and 17 where he writes “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  Now one might argue that Paul was only talking about “light and momentary troubles.”  Can I remind you of some of his “light and momentary troubles” that he endured as a follower of Christ that he documented seven chapters later in 2 Corinthians?  “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.”  I don’t know about you, but none of those seem to be “light or momentary.”  But I believe Paul was a “Sooner.”  One who realized, like the author of this hymn, that his trials would soon be done.  That in the light of eternity, those troubles were momentary and would soon be over.

Now, if you are experiencing a tough time, I am not discounting your pain and your struggle at all.  The Bible does not exhort us to do that, but the opposite – to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn.  But, what I hope I can encourage you to do is realize that whatever the situation is, God will give you the strength to make it through, and it too will soon be over.  That you can testify before, during, and after tough times in your life that you will “soon be done with troubles and trials.”