Why
God Gives US Problems
Hope
this will help you to see opportunities behind
the threats! Why God Gives Us Problem? LIFE IS A
SERIES OF PROBLEM-SOLVING OPPORTUNITIES.
1.
God uses problems to DIRECT you.
2. God uses problems to INSPECT you.
3. God uses problems to CORRECT you.
4. God uses problems to PROTECT you.
5. God uses problems to PERFECT you.
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? "Sometimes it takes a painful
situation to make us change our ways."
Proverbs 20:30
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 water! Has God ever
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 ... health, money, a relationship...
by losing it. "It was the best thing that
could have happened to me, for it taught me to
pay attention to your laws." Psalm 119:71-72
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
our 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 do not recognize it or understand it. But
it's much easier and profitable when you
cooperate with Him!
~~by
Mena Haryanto
Sue Cifelli on 23 Dec 08Is the pope Catholic? 20 Comments Written by Tony Woodlief December 22, 9:49 AM John Allen, senior correspondent for The National Catholic Reporter, offered in Friday's New York Times a moderating interpretation of the Vatican's recent statement, "Dignity of a Person." Allen's concern is that conservative Catholics will view the statement, which condemns embryonic stem cell research among other scientific tinkerings with human life, as a call to arms against a decidedly pro-abortion incoming American president. "Call to arms" is hyperbole, but it pales in comparison to Allen's rhetoric, which claims that Pope Benedict XVI's latest document on life "risks being read as encouragement for the most ardent pro-life forces in America to let slip the dogs of war." He also frets that the pope's document "may be the political equivalent of shouting 'Fire!' in a crowded theater." To counteract all this dog unleashing and theater shouting, Allen counsels the pope to find some way to "mobilize those Catholics who hope to build bridges." He doesn't want "strategic silence" on abortion, he says, but this rings a bit hollow after extended hand-wringing at the damage done by vocally Catholic pro-life leaders. Perhaps Allen isn't advocating strategic silence, but he does seem to call for less forceful talk. After all, if the pope says something that convinces Catholics that abortion is truly evil, we might "unleash the dogs of war." By all means, Pope Benedict, don't be strategically silent, but on the other hand, would you mind toning it down a bit? It's the kind of false verbal parsing one expects out of a congressional office. In effect, what Allen is asking is for the pope not to be Catholic. Or at least that he be less conspicuously so out of consideration for the tender American situation, which is fascinating insofar as Allen begins his essay by noting that Americans comprise only 6 percent of the global Catholic populat