Facing up to life, problems or possibilities

The main difference between people isn’t the problems we face but it is how we interpret and respond to our problems.

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭10:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here’s an example:

A shoemaker wanted to open a shoe shop in a particular town. In order to find out if the people in the town would be interested in buying his shoes, he sent out 2 people to the town to find out.When they both went to the town, they realised that not a single person in that town wore shoes. They then returned and both reported back to the shoemaker.

The first persons's report was that it would impossible to sell shoes in that town due 
to the fact that not a single person there wore shoes which means that no one would be interested in buying his shoes. Therefore, it wouldn’t be beneficial to him to open a store in that town.

The second person who was sent to the same town came back so excited to give the shoemaker the good news. His report was that he needs to open a shoe shop in the town as soon as possible and having a shop in that town would be a huge advantage because the people in that town are in need of shoes as not a single person was seen wearing shoes.

From this story we can tell that they both saw the same thing which was the fact that the people in the town wore no shoes. However, the only difference was the interpretation that was given to the situation which was whether the fact that the people wore no shoes was a problem or a possibility.

My question to you is that as you face up to life do you see problems or possibilities?

Most of the time when we face problems, we become overwhelmed and let them completely take over our mind. In doing so, we make the problem seem bigger than the God we serve and we forget that we serve a God who can do the impossible (in other words we lose faith in God). However the Bible has made it clear that it is our faith that moves God to take control and in Matthew 17:20 we are told that “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Be moved’ and it will be moved. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Mountains signifies problems, obstacles and anything in our lives which are out of our control. Therefore 
by having even the slightest faith, we should be able to command the problems to move out of our lives and truly and indeed they shall be moved. Also,we are told by God In John 16:33 that “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” If we take hold of this word no matter what problem we face , we will not be overwhelmed by it and as a result; we’ll be able to see past the problem and rather see the possibilities.

Being a born again doesn’t mean we won’t face problems but it means that God will help us and be with us every step of the way. Being a born again also means that we need to change the the interpretation we give to things and we can start by starting to see problems as possibilities because problems can only have an impact on our lives if we let it. Therefore when we face problems, although it may be hard and easier said than done, we should try and look at the possibilities in the problems by putting our complete faith in God knowing that “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all (Psalms 34:19 KJV)” and also that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose Romans 8:28 KJV”. 

So when we face problems, to make it easier to see the possibilities and to get through the problems rather having sleepless nights and thinking about the problems all the time; we should turn it all over to Our creator knowing that He will come to our rescue. In order to do this we need to continually read the word of God to build and stair up our faith. By doing this, each time we face problems we'll remember case studies or situations that people such as Job, Joseph, David and many others faced and how God turned their problems into possibilities. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to comfort us and to lift up a standard against our problems or anything that comes up against us. 

Life brings problems HOWEVER in those same problems lies possibilities. We can either choose to focus on the problem or the possibilities but our choices are determined by the level of faith we have in God.Every impossibility is an opportunity for God to demonstrate His glory and power, therefore let go and let God.