What Problems Are You Having This Week?

Do you have too much homework? Too many tests? Roommate problems? Relationship problems? Loneliness? Illness? Maybe you are thinking that if you can just get past this present hurdle, everything will be smooth sailing. And it might be smooth sailing…until the next problem.

No shortage of problems exist, for we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). According to that verse, problems are nothing unusual. It’s the price of living in a sinful world, so don’t be surprised when problems show up.

What will you focus on when problem do show up? The problems or God’s promises? The Bible’s Easter account gives us an example of this in Mark 16. Women made their way to Jesus’s tomb after His death, and they were worried about the stone blocking His grave. They wondered who would push the stone away so they could have access to Jesus’s body.

The stone was a problem, an obstacle, a hurdle. It was between them and Jesus. And what happened? They got there and found the stone was removed. They had free access to Jesus.

We do the same thing in our lives. Problems develop and we get focused on them, rather than focus on God’s promises, which are always open to us. It’s a mistake to think Jesus will always solve the problem. This happened to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12. Nevertheless, we pray anyway because Jesus may solve the problem, or He may give us the strength and patience to bear it, or He may bring any number of other things to past to help us deal with it. Regardless, Jesus promises help whether we recognize it or not.

We are always going to have problems in this life, and we always have Jesus with us. Which is better to focus on? Jesus brings us news that our sins are forgiven and death and the devil are defeated. Jesus promises to be there to guide and protect us. Jesus promised a place for us in heaven where we will never have problems again.

Problems, meanwhile, only promise trouble.