Five Ways God Uses Problems
FIVE WAYS GOD USES PROBLEMS
By David Langerfeld
July 31, 2004
The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you - depending
on how you respond to them. Unfortunately, most people fail to see how
God wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly
and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit
they might bring. Here are five ways God wants to use the problems in
your life:
1. God uses problems to DIRECT you. Sometimes God must light a fire
under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction
and motivate us to change. Is God trying to get your attention? "Trust
in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your
paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
2. God uses problems to INSPECT you. People are like tea bags... if you
want to know what's inside them, just drop them into hot ever water!
Has God tested your faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about
you? "When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy,
because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will
give you patience." James 1:2-3
3. God uses problems to CORRECT you. Some lessons we learn only through
pain and failure. It's likely that as a child your parents told you not
to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned.
Sometimes we only learn the value of something by losing it. "It is
good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy
statutes." Psalm 119:72
4. God uses problems to PROTECT you. A problem can be a blessing in
disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more
serious. Last year a friend was fired for refusing to do something
unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a
problem - but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a
year later when management's actions were eventually discovered. "You
intended to harm me, but God intended it for good" Genesis 50:20
5. God uses problems to PERFECT you. Problems, when responded to
correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your
character than your comfort. Your relationship to God and your
character are the only two things you're going to take with you into
eternity. "We can rejoice when we run into problems... they help us
learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us
and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope
and faith are strong and steady." Romans 5:3-4
Here's the point: God is at work in your life - even when you don't
recognize it or understand it. But it's so much easier when you
surrender to his plan for your life
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