the raw material…

we are all about problem – solution – done.  problem – solution – done.  but GOD’s all about problem – patience – growth.  problem – patience – growth.  because more than anything HE’s interested in what HE wants to do in your life.  and your problems, my problems, are the raw material out of which GOD manufactures hope.  out of which GOD moves us to trust HIM in something that in this world is not going to last to trusting in HIM in something in the next world is going to last. 

we all trust in things that aren’t going to last.  one of the things our problems do is help us to realize “i can’t trust in that anymore.  i’ve got to find something greater to trust in.”  GOD tests us, not to grade us but to grow us.  HE doesn’t test you, looking at you thinking, “wonder how they’re going to do with this one.  oh!  they get a c minus on that one.  they didn’t do very well.”  GOD already knows how you’re going to react.  HE’s GOD.  HE knows everything.  so why does HE let us go through tests?  because HE knows what they’re going to do to our heart.  HE knows how they’re going to grow us. 

but growth and hope are not guaranteed results of problems.  i know plenty of people who go through problems and they’ve got no growth going on.  they’ve got no hope in their lives.  it takes patience.  that’s why you want to make patience your priority. 

so what is it that keeps us from hope?  circumstances?  it’s easy to think that.  but no.  every one of us knows someone who has the best of circumstances but no hope at all.  and we know people who have the worst of circumstances but they’re lives are overflowing with hope.  so obviously it’s not about circumstances.  it’s something about your heart, your attitude, in the circumstances. 

now, having patience in the midst of problems is easy to talk about but it’s hard to do.  whether you think they should or not, whether you feel guilty about that or not, your problems tend to wear you down after a while.  so what do you do?  here’s the answer.

don’t face your problems alone.  GOD never meant for you to face those problems alone and try to be patient alone.  galatians 6.2 (tlb), share each other’s troubles and problems and so obey our LORD’s command.”  our LORD’s command to love one another.  you share each other’s troubles and problems.  GOD didn’t mean for you to face it alone. 

GOD says we’re not built to face it alone.  HE has made us to share our problems with other people so we can lift each other up and encourage each other.  problems have this power to move us from false hope to real hope but it takes other people involved in our lives for that to happen. 

just a thought from the front porch…