The daily problems we face will either defeat us or develop us into stronger individuals depending on our response to them. Most people fail to see how God wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather pausing to consider what benefit they might bring. Here are five reasons God may have permitted the problems you experience in your life:
1). God permits 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 allowing this situation to get your attention? Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways. Proverbs 20:30.
2). God permits problems to INSPECT you. People are like tea bags...if you want to know what is inside them just drop them into hot water! Has God tested your faith by allowing a problem or two into your life? 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 learn the value of something...health, money, a relationship...by losing it
Psalm 119:71-72
4). God permits problems to PROTECT you. A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious.
Genesis 50:20
5). God permits problems to PERFECT you. Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. Your relationship with God and your character are the only two things you're going to take with you into eternity.
Romans 5:3-4
Reprinted by permission from The Blake Company /theblakecomp@vzavenue.net-(2007),
