Life is a series of problems

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?

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?

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 cold 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.

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.

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 only two things you're going to take with you into eternity.