"Five Ways God Wants To Use Problems In Your Life"
Note: This message was sent to me on June 22, 2000 by my dear friend, Dr. Bill Trapp, pastor of Woodmont Baptist Church, Florence, Alabama. Bill and I had been friends for over twenty-five (25) years. Bill went home to be with the Lord just six months later on December 31, 2000 after a long battle with Lou Gerigh’s disease. Bill knew he was dying and he had gone through a great deal of physical, emotional, and spiritual anguish. At the time of the sending of this message Bill could not use his arms for much more than briefly using a computer keyboard, he could not talk or eat (he was on a feeding tube), and was having many problems associated with this terrible disease. He remained faithful to the Lord and this message is from his heart and God’s Word. It is shared with the permission of his precious wife, Laura.
Introduction: 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.
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 (GN).
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 problems, you should be full of joy, because you know that these problems test your faith, and this will give you patience." James 1:2-3 (NCV)
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 (LB).
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 bring 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 (NIV).
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 two things you will 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 (LB).
Here’s the point. God is at work in your life even when you do not recognize it. But it’s much easier and profitable when you cooperate with him.
Definitely In His Grip,
Brother Bill