Published by We all have problems – some big and threatening, some small and irritating. The problems you face will either defeat or develop you depending on how you respond 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 instead of considering what benefit they may bring.
From the Bible, I share with you five ways God wants to use the problems of your life for your benefit and blessing. Read this regularly and share with others.
- God uses problems for your direction. Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction, motivate us to change, or engage us in self-evaluation. Why is God allowing this? Is God trying to get my attention? “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.” Proverbs 20:30 says, “Blows and wounds cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the innermost being.”
- God uses problems for your inspection. It has been said that “people are like tea bags, if you want to know what’s inside them, just drop them into hot water!” Has God ever tested your faith with a problem? What do problems reveal about you? James 1:2-3 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”
- God uses problems for your corrections. Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It’s like when as a child your mother told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of health, money, relationship, etc. by losing it. As the psalmist said in Psalm 119:71-72, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.”
- God uses problems for your protection. Problems are blessings in disguise. A man was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His employment was a problem – but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management’s actions were discovered. Joseph told his brothers who sold him, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now is being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)
- God uses problems for your perfection. When we respond correctly, problems become character builders. God is more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship to Him and your character are the only two things you’re going to take with you into eternity. To paraphrase Romans 5:3-4, “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.”
God is at work in your life, my friend, even when you do not recognize or understand it.
