Problems?

Wallace Johnson was the founder of Holiday Inn, and a dynamic Christian. When he was 40 years old, his boss fired him from his saw mill job. It came as a devastating shock. This was during the Great Depression. He and his wife needed the income from his job, small though it was. Wallace felt that the world had caved in on him.
His wife worried. She asked him, “What are you going to do?” But Wallace had been thinking, and he answered by saying, “I’m going to mortgage our home and go into the building business.
His first venture was the construction of two small buildings. Within five years, Wallace Johnson was a multi-millionaire. In an interview, he said, “Today, if I could locate the man who fired me I would sincerely thank him for what he did. At the time it happened, I didn't understand why I was fired. Later I saw that it was God's unerring and wondrous plan to get me into the ways of his choosing." The greatest thing that ever happened to him was to get fired.
Who knows what God might do through your problems and disappointments! If you’ve got problems, be happy. Don’t think of your problems as intruders. Welcome them as friends. God's purpose is much bigger than those problems. Don't doubt.
James 1:8 says that when you ask for wisdom, "… you must ask in sincere faith, without secret doubts." Don't doubt that God is working in your life. Don’t think he has abandoned you. He hasn’t – and he never will. Your problems aren’t a sign that God is mad at you – they’re a sign that he’s helping you to grow.
Since problems in life are inevitable, tackle them head on and use them to your advantage. Make it your goal to be in God's Hall of Faith. The people who make it into the Hall of Faith are those who endured incredible problems – pain, rejection, suffering – and maintained a Christ-like attitude despite it all. They are those who let the Lord work in their lives and grew as a result of it.
You're going to have problems. It's inevitable. There's no such thing as a problem-free life. But when a problem comes along you can be sure of two things:
1) The devil is trying to destroy you.
2) And God is trying to develop you.
Problems do not automatically make you a better person. Depending on your response, you can be better or bitter. You can rejoice, request, and relax or you can resent, rebel, and resist.
Which will you choose?
Until next time,
Rick Warren