“Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.” – Isaiah 43:1b-3a
I have come to a terrible realization in the past few weeks. I have even less control over the events and circumstances of my life than I thought (and I didn’t think I had that much to begin with). Problems seem to be piling up all around me, and now and then, I have frightening moments of clarity where I realize that I am the problem.
If you have a problem with your problems and they seem to be spinning out of control, let me give you a hope to hold onto – if you know Jesus, then by the grace of God they are not really YOUR problems – they are HIS problems (praise God). Let me give you a few examples:
1. My Salvation is His Problem – There are many people (and sadly, churches) who will tell you that you have to earn your salvation. Don’t buy it – that’s simply not what the Bible says (John 8:36, 14:6, Acts 4:12, Ephesians 2:8-9). And while we should certainly live our lives for the glory of God, we don’t have to live under a cloud of doubt as to whether or not we’ve racked up enough points to get into heaven. As the old hymn says “Jesus Paid It All” (emphasis on the “all”), and thanks to our Savior and Soon-coming King, we don’t have to add a thing to the price that has already been paid to settle our eternity. All we have to do is accept His gift of grace (see the “Are You Saved” column at left). Problem solved.
2. My Problems are His Problem – Whether you’re dealing with family, money, job or health problems, none of them come as a surprise or even a challenge to God. As a matter of fact – for reasons that only He can totally explain – He has allowed these problems, and He will somehow use them for good in the end (Romans 8:28). It can be a tough concept to wrap your mind around, but Job (Job 42:12-17), Joseph (Genesis 50:20), Esther (Esther 8-9), and a host of others will tell you – He knows what He’s doing, and He always keeps His promises (Psalm 84:11-12, Hebrews 11:6). And most importantly, He never expects you to go through a problem without Him. His intention is to go with you every step of the way (Proverbs 3:5-6). He’ll take care of the problem, and somehow, some way, you’ll walk away with a blessing.
3. My Weakness is His Problem – If you think you can’t take anymore, you’re right – YOU can’t. But amazingly, our weakness (and our willingness to admit to it) divinely activates God’s strength in us. If you take this world’s value system and flip it upside down, you’ve just decoded God’s value system. The world values strength – God demands weakness (II Corinthians 12:9-10). This world promotes pride – God loves humility (James 4:6). People tell you to stand on your own two feet – God wants you to get on your knees before Him (Hebrews 4:16). The bottom line: you don’t have to beat yourself up about your own worthlessness, because your flaws and your failures are currency in God’s economy. The Great Physician isn’t looking for perfect people (He knows they don’t exist) – He’s looking for people who know that they need an appointment with Him (Mark 2:17).
So the only question is – have you made your problems HIS problems? God invites you to be His “problem child” (He already has a perfect Son), no matter how many or what kind of problems you have. He welcomes you to His throne of grace – flaws and all – and offers you rest from whatever weighs you down. Of course, free will gives you every right to hang onto any of the above problems, but why on earth would you want to?
Take it from a problem child of God, He is the only solution, the only answer, and everything you need (Psalm 46).
-Greta Brokaw
