What is God telling you with the problems He blesses you with? 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? "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 troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles 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 being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management's actions were eventually discovered. "What Man intended to harm me, 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 only two things you're going to 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 our patience 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 or understand it. But it's much easier and profitable when you cooperate with Him.

Print this out and read this regularly. Some of you could probably use this right now!

YOU ARE BLESSED . . . THERE'S NO NEED TO STRESS! HAVE A NICE DAY!

"Success can be measured not only in achievements, but in lessons learned, lives touched and moments shared along the way....."

My assurance is to be built upon God's assurance to me. God says, "I will never leave you," so that the I "may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear'" (13:5-6). In other words, I will not be obsessed with apprehension. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God's words of assurance. I will be full of courage, like a child who strives to reach the standard his father has set for him. The faith of many people begins to falter when apprehensions enter their thinking, and they forget the meaning of God's assurance---they forget to take a deep spiritual breath. The only way to remove the fear from our lives is to listen to God's assurance to us.

What are you fearing? Whatever it may be, you are not a coward about it---you are determined to face it, yet you still have a feeling of fear. When it seems that there is nothing and no one to help you, say to yourself, "But 'The Lord is my helper' this very moment, even in my present circumstance." Are you learning to listen to God before you speak, or are you saying things and then trying to make God's Word fit what you have said? Take hold of the Father's assurance, and then say with strong courage, "I will not fear." It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in our way, because "He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you . . . .'"

Human frailty is another thing that gets between God's words of assurance and our own words and thoughts. When we realize how feeble we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God seems to be nonexistent. But remember God's assurance to us---"I will never . . . forsake you." Have we learned to sing after hearing God's keynote? Are we continually filled with enough courage to say, "The Lord is my helper," or are we yielding to fear?

Let me not live a life that's free
From "the things" that draw me close to Thee
For how can I ever hope to heal
The wounds of others I do not feel

If my eyes are dry and I never weep
How do I know when the hurt is deep
If my heart is cold and it never bleeds
How can I tell what my brother needs

For when ears are deaf to the beggar's plea
And we close our eyes and refuse to see
And we steel our hearts and harden our minds
And we count it a weakness whenever we're kind

We are no longer following the Father's Way
Or seeking His guidance from day to day
For, without crosses to carry and burdens to bear
We dance through a life that is frothy and fair

And chasing the rainbow we have no desire
For roads that are rough and realms that are higher
So spare me no heartache or sorrow, dear Lord
For the heart that is hurt reaps the richest reward

And God enters the heart that is broken with sorrow
As he opens the door to a Brighter Tomorrow
For only through tears can we recognize
The suffering that lies in another's eyes

Author: Helen Steiner Rice