PROBLEMS vs OPPORTUNITY

There are times when I think I’m the only one who has ever gone through a certain problem or trial. The truth is, I have gone through very little compared to what many people have faced. I know of no one who has not had problems in their life. I'm reminded of what we read in Job 5:7,”Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.”

I have served in quite a few different churches in a variety of positions. In each one of those churches there are certain things that I remember. I served in one church in the state of Florida which was made up of mostly people from Tennessee and Georgia. That might be unusual unless you understood that church was close to the space center. People from Tennessee and Georgia had migrated to Florida to obtain work at Cape Canaveral. The military church I pastored in Germany had five sets of twins at the same time. Both these circumstances were very unusual, but not nearly as unusual as one church of which I read this week.

Dr. John Piper writes about a time in his church in which he had one baby born blind, another with a diseased heart and another who lived only one day. I have been in churches where these problems came in the life of a church family, but not all in such a short amount of time. It would be very easy for us to make a quick judgment as to why these things have happened. We might want to say there was sin in the church. We might come to the conclusion that Satan was attacking the church.

It's very interesting to see how Dr. Piper responded to these circumstances in his church. In a letter written to one of those families he said, “Is the Lord saying, ‘I have a gift for your community’? This is not one or two or three couples burdens’. This is a gift and call for the whole church.”

One of the things that demonstrates maturity or immaturity is how we handle a problem. We either react to a problem are we respond to a problem. A reaction is a work of the flesh and a response is the fruit of the Spirit. I believe this is true not only in the live of an individual but also in the life of a church.

Sometimes problems comes into our lives and we feel overwhelmed. There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. We might even ask, where is God?

One of my favorite stories is found in II Kings 6. Elisha is being pursued by the enemy. The army against him is great and the great prophet tries to reassure his servant that God is at work. Elisha tells him there are more on their side than on the side of the enemy but the servant can’t see it. Then in II Kings 6:17 we read, “And Elisha prayed and said LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. . .”

Dr. John Piper could see the hand of God at work in the lives of those dear couples and in the life of his church also. He knew that nothing was impossible with God. He also knew that his congregation had a great opportunity, a gift and a call. They had an opportunity to practice kingdom living. Notice how he puts it, “It seems to me that this life is a proving ground for the kingdom to come. Some are asked to devote 40 or 50 years to caring for a handicapped child instead of breezing through life without pain. Others are asked to be blind all their lives.”

John Piper understood that life does have problems. We too have problems but in most cases are not what many others face. I like what Paul wrote in II Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;”

Let’s not complain or question God! Let’s respond correctly at all times, even when problems come. Let’s use our problems as opportunities of growth in our personal lives and in our churches.