Category: Thoughts to Live By

Wonderful sayings to carry through life….

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5 Reasons Why God Uses Problems

A friend sent this to me by email today.

How do you react when problems come your way? If you ask me, I would rather NOT have problems. My first instinct is to avoid anything that would cause problems. And yet, like everyone else, I have my own dose of these — and MORE sometimes. But as I read this, I felt my heart lighten. Having problems suddenly took on a new perspective, like a fresh breath of air. Suddenly, even the toxic day at my office today did not seem too bad.

And so I share it also with you — that we may all be blessed by it and see our problems in a different light.

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5 Reasons Why God Uses 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? “Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways.”
Proverbs 20:30

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 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.”
Jam es 1:2-3

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

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. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good…
Genesis 50:20

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 it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady.”
Romans 5:3-4


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

LIFE IS AN ECHO. What you send out, you get back. What you give, you receive.
WHEN YOU BRING OUT THE BEST IN OTHERS, YOU BRING OUT THE BEST IN YOURSELF.

MAY GOD BLESS US ALWAYS….

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Choices

Some of our important choices have a time line.
If we delay a decision, the opportunity is gone forever.
Sometimes our doubts keep us from making a choice; thus, an opportunity may be missed.
As someone once said: When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, THAT in itself is a choice.
(from a text I received; author unknown)
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When your son is no longer a babe…..

He is all of 13 years old. He insists he is no longer a baby. He is away from us — all the way in China — for 6 weeks.

M2 is on a foreign study program — part of their school’s vision to bring their students into a keener awareness of their roots, appreciation for their ancestors’ mother tongue and culture, and a stronger sense of purpose. It is also a learning experience in more ways than one as these boys, many of whom are pampered with creature comforts at home, have to deal now with

– studying without a tutor;

– overcoming terrible homesickness;

– learning to communicate in the language of their ancestors in order to be understood;

– adjusting to living with other boys their age with different personalities and quirks;

– dealing with groceries, laundry and budgeting on top of coping with a demanding study schedule; and

– basically going through an accelerated “growing up” program.

 

We heard from him yesterday. He sounded OK, had no major concerns about food, accommodations or his studies. In fact, when he asked to speak to his older brother, we thought it was because he missed him….only to find out that their whole conversation was on the latest goings-on with the wrestling TV show they both loved to watch (he has no TV in his China dorm room). He also told me he had been doing his laundry by hand rather than use the pay-per-cycle washing machine so he could save up for pasalubong.

At the moment, my feelings are mixed. There is a part of me that terribly misses him but another part of me is happy that he is learning to fly using his own wings. A part of me wants to cry upon hearing about his method of scrimping to afford gifts to bring home; but the other part of me says this is a good experience so he will learn the value of money earned.

When our kids grow up, the process is not just an experience for the kids but probably more so for us, their parents, who have long cared and watched over them, and now have to slowly let go. In a sense, we are also “growing up”. The transition from a parent to confidante, adviser and friend is fraught with fear and pain; but when hurdled successfully, it can be very rewarding as a new kind of relationship develops.

 

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An Animated Childbirth Video

Childbirth is scary to most people. Movies depicting childbirth show women screaming in pain, shocking the senses of young and sensitive children. My girls have asked me in the past about this and I have always tried to be as candid with them about my experience giving birth to them while trying to explain it in a non-frightening way.

I went through 4 normal childbirths and I must say each one was different. Some were easy, some were more difficult. C1, although she was my first, was the easiest birth. I recall that she just sort of slipped out. M1 was a different case. He had his umbilical cord around his neck. No wonder I had to be induced as my labor did not progress. And thankfully, my doctor felt the cord and cut it before it choked him. C2 and M2 were painful births which, thankfully, did not last that long.

With the advent of technology, ultrasounds now are not what they were before. New mommies now can actually “see” their babies even before they were born. I did not have that technology available to me then, too bad. I have also wondered what my doctor saw from his perspective since he would put me to sleep as soon as most of the baby was out. Obviously, at my end, I had no idea what it was like on his end. 🙂

Finally, here is an animation from YouTube that is wholesome enough for everyone to watch. It helps that the background music is classical, thanks to J.S. Bach.

Hope my 2 girls see this and realize that a mother’s pain during childbirth is NOTHING compared to the joy afterwards of holding your baby. It never ceases to amaze me that you carry this life inside you for 9 months, feel it move and kick, and afterwards, you are faced with this baby that is 100% dependent on you.

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40 Tips for an Exceptional, Superb, Powerful Life!

I got this email from a friend, Nicky:

These are really very powerful. Implement whatever you can.

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. Buy a personal video recorder (PVR). Tape your late night shows and get more sleep.

4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, “My purpose is to ________ today.”

5. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.

6. Watch more movies, play more games and read more books than you did in 2006.

7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.

Continue reading “40 Tips for an Exceptional, Superb, Powerful Life!”