The Gift of Problems

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so that you become mature and well developed, not deficient in any way

James 1: 2-4 MSG.

I read a lot of prayer requests. We have a link on our website to receive them, and I view them on other websites as well. I have found that a lot of people are angry with God. They blame Him for being insensitive to their problems. They blame God for everything from the broken refrigerator to the speeding ticket.

God knows very well that we are going to have problems, but instead of seeing the problem as a curse, consider it a gift. The King James Version says, let patience have her perfect work". Patience cannot work at all if we are somewhere sitting on the sidelines. And when we blame God for our problems, that’s exactly what happens.

God’s desire is that we grow and mature in the faith. Therefore He allows things to come our way. We need to understand and accept that problems are used by God to help us to become all He wants us to be. Growth and maturation is a process, and in order to get there, we have to be committed to God and His plan for our lives.

One day as Jesus and His disciples were passing through Jerusalem, they came upon a man that was blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus whether or not the man or his parents had committed the sin that resulted in his blindness. The disciples asked the universal question; the endless question; the question that deceives the masses. The "Why" question. They wanted an explanation to why that man was born blind. They wanted a humanistic answer; an answer that would let God be good.

It is interesting to me how they could question whether or not the man had sinned. You see, he was born blind. Therefore, in order to sin he would have had to sin as a fetus. That’s very unlikely. But they had been taught all their lives that sin causes sickness and sickness is God’s judgment.

We are the same way today. We are "Why" Christians. Why did this happen? Why did my child wreck the car? Why did my husband lose his job? Why did the motor in the car lock up? Why did daddy get cancer? The why question is endless. You have your list and I have mine. We want an answer apart from God.

It is so difficult for us to accept that God may allow some bad things to come our way to bring about good. We reason that God is good, and He wouldn’t allow bad things to come our way without a reason. But answers are not that clean cut. Just look at Jesus’ response, "Neither this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him John 9:3.

Basically, Jesus was saying, "Your belief is wrong and your theology is flawed". Listen.
When we have problems, there is something bigger going on than you and me. There is something bigger than our pain, our world, our family, our money, our stuff and all of our "why" questions. Jesus said "but that the" or "in order that"; in other words God is saying, "I have a purpose" in your bad situation". "I allowed this". "I sent this". "This man is blind and I’m going to use that to work my purpose in him".

Paul had a thorn in the flesh. He said it was a messenger from Satan to buffet him to keep him from exalting himself. Paul asked God several times to remove it, but God said "No". Do you know why? Because He sent it. Satan didn’t give Paul something that would keep him humble. He wants us to exalt ourselves because if we exalt ourselves, we will be abased. But if we humble ourselves, we will be exalted.

God sends some of the obstacles in our life. Others we bring upon ourselves through our sin and disobedience. Although sin didn’t cause this man’s blindness, it can be a cause of a lot of problems for us. "Every man is tempted when he is carried away of his own lust and enticed. When lust is conceived it brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished brings forth death James 1: 14-15. Sin brings death; not just physical death. It also brings death to a marriage or a friendship. It brings family member death as well as pastor congregation death.

When Adam and Eve lived in Eden, they didn’t have any problems. There was no sickness, death or suffering. They didn’t have marriage problems or children problems. There were no children because Adams didn’t need any juniors to carry his name on. He had God, a job and a wife. And when you’ve got God, a job and a wife, you can make it. I don’t know how they lived in Eden, but when they sinned, they had to move.

We live in a post Eden world where childbirth is painful, the soil must be tilled, the work is hard and there are all kinds of abuses. Sin, sin, sin is causing death, death and more death.

God never desired any of it. God didn’t want them to experience sin, and He doesn’t want us to either. He didn’t then and He doesn’t now. Because God doesn’t want us to die. God gets no pleasure when someone dies in sin.

I don’t have a stat but I believe that most of the problems we experience are a direct result of our own actions. But whether from God, the devil or ourselves, we need to know that God is doing something and we need to be patient and trust Him. Just look your situation in the face and say, "God is using you". Don’t allow problems to destroy your faith; let God increase it. Don’t allow adversity to take away your peace; let God give you peace.

The disciples face their greatest adversity when they had to watch Jesus die on that cross. They must have asked why a thousand times. But three days later, they understood, and that sorrow was turned to joy unspeakable. And after Pentecost, those disciples were ready to die just like he did. The greatest tragedy became the greatest triumph.

Start to see your problems as a gift instead of a curse. Know and understand that God is working in your problems and will surely bring something wonderful out of it.

By: Edmund Brown