Got problems? The truth is, if you don’t have problems, you don’t have a pulse. I think we can all agree that in one way or another we all face problems. Author Chuck Swindoll says, “Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” We can’t control what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond when we face difficult situations and circumstances in our lives.
Keeping the right perspective in the midst of our problems is the key to overcoming our problems. So, how can we overcome our problems?
1. Find The Greater Purpose in Your Problems.
Instead of asking the question, “Why?” what if we turned it around and asked, “What?” What is it I am supposed to learn through this situation I am facing? If we think about it, there is always a greater purpose that can be achieved and will actually help us profit from our problems. We can always find a greater purpose through our pain and problems.
At the age of 8, our youngest child was diagnosed with a rare hip disease called “Legg-Calvé-Perthes.” That day changed his life and our entire family. Life took on a whole new perspective. Our lives would no longer be the same. Our son, Luke, would no longer be able to do what all the other kids got to do – he had a choice to make. He could grow up either bitter or better – the difference between the two is the letter i.
We can’t choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we respond. I am pleased to say that my son Luke, now 16 years old, is 100% healed and is living a perfectly normal life. He found a greater purpose through his pain. It was while he was sitting in a wheelchair for nearly three years that he took up music. He learned to play the guitar and piano. Today, he is a singer/songwriter and is incredibly gifted with creative video production and technology. If we keep the right perspective through the difficult situations in life, our problems can actually be turned into a platform to inspire others.
2. Find a Way to Help Others Through Their Problems.
It’s easy to sit around indulging in self-pity or blame others for the problems and circumstances we face. However, at some point we have to take the focus off ourselves and place it on others. We will discover quickly there is always someone else who is dealing with bigger problems than we are. I heard someone say, “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” Who better to encourage someone who has been diagnosed with cancer than someone who has had cancer? Who better to encourage someone who has experienced the pain of divorce than someone who has gone through it themselves? Who better to give hope and help to someone going through financial difficulties than someone who has lost everything? You get the point.
There is always a greater purpose we can learn and grow from, and there are always people who are waiting to be helped with the help that only we can give. Sally Koch once said, “Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us daily.”
Rodney Gage | Lead Pastor
ReThink Life Church | rethinklife.com
@rodneygage
