OVERCOMING PERSISTENT PROBLEMS
Yes we all have problems, difficulties and terrible circumstances. It is important to know what we have to do in those situations.
1. TURN YOUR TEARS INTO PRAYERS
When we face pain, difficulties, disappointments we respond in two ways
# 1 We cry and let down our emotions
# 2 We curl in and become quiet and we don’t show any emotions.
Most time we lie in the bed. hold on to our pillow and cry silent tears or we cry in our closets where no one can see us. When we cry we think about ourselves, our situations and we feel a sense of worthlessness or fear.
The Lord says in Hosea 7:14,” They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail upon their beds.”
The first thing we have to do in these situations is turn our tears into prayers. Instead of feeling bad and sulking and crying. We should direct our problems, worries, fears into God’s hands.
But the Bible says in Phillipians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present yours requests to God.”
Whilst you turn your tears into prayers, just before you present your request to God just remember to thank God for the things He has already done for you in the past. Now you can go ahead and cry to God about your problems.
No one cried to God as much as David did in the Bible and we see in the end of his life, how blessed he was. God fulfilled all the purposes and plans He had for David. The secret is in Ps 57: 2 he says, “I cry to God Most high who fulfills his purpose for me.”
In Ps. 55:17 he says,” Evening and morning and noon I cry out in distress and he hears my voice. ”
In Ps. 62:8, He says,”People trust in God at all times. Pour out your heart to him.”
When we first thank God first and then pour out our hearts to him, as it is said in Phillipians 4:7 ,”The peace of God that we cannot understand will come and guard our heart and mind in Christ Jesus.”
The problem is when we don’t go and cry to God and we choose to cry to ourselves we won’t be able to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. We will begin to allow our mind to act and respond carnally according to the flesh.
In Roman 8:6,7 says “The mind of a sinful man is death but mind Controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God it does not submit to God’s law nor can it do so.”
So when we don’t go to God we cannot have that peace that guards us in Christ. We tend to panic and do things that’ll lead to death.
Also the problem is when we go to others. We allow our mind to be dictated by others opinions and perspectives. We allow their words to influence our decision. We may have to do certain things just to please them, because if we don’t, we may lose their favour or approval. In any given situation we cannot be 100 percent open to another person. When we share our problems to others we always tend to project us in good light to avoid being judged. We tend to hide motives behind certain actions. But with God we can be totally open. Because He knows our innermost thoughts and he does not judge us. With Him there is forgiveness for any wrong motive, action or word. Human beings can only hear us but cannot forgive us. With God there are words of eternal life. God is the only one who can control situations.
So my dear friends, when we face problems, our first step is, we should not be in panic, running to others, or calling someone to cry or share our problem or even cry to yourself.
Cry to God, but before that, just remember to thank Him for at-least 10 things He has done for you. Then go ahead cry.
If you thank Him before you cry, your faith will arise. You will see that God has done good things in your life and he will do it again. So once again you can depend and trust God.
Ps 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you, he will never let the righteous fall. Amen.”
And if you just can’t find anything to thank God for, just go ahead and cry to Him first. You will see the miracle and next time when you have a situation, you will be able to thank God for this miracle.
So after you cry out to God what should we do next to tackle persistent problems.
TURN AWAY FROM ALL SIN
In Hosea 8:2,3 it says ,”Israel cries out to me O our God, we acknowledge you. But Israel has rejected what is good. An enemy will pursue him.”
Yes most of our cry to God and pray. then go out and sin, by being angry, we backbite, falsely accuse, etcetera.
If we want God to help us and make sure the problem does not pursue us, we must do what is good.
In Hosea 10:12,13, it says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love and break up your un-ploughed ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes and showers righteousness on you. But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended in your own strength and on your many warriors.”
We must sow righteousness. Do acts of kindness, say nice words. Every word is a seed, make every effort to say nice things about everyone you meet. The Bible says in Matthew 5:7,”Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.”
Be extravagantly good to someone who does not deserve mercy. You will receive the same from God. We reap what we sow when we go ahead and help someone we will be helped.
I have experienced this first hand in my life. When I was studying in college my Head of the Department was so angry with me for giving a feedback to the principal about how the classes never happened and teachers never came on time. Since I was the class representative the anger was totally directed towards me. She vowed to make sure I failed in all my internal exams. So that I will not pass in the semester exams.
I cried to God, so God spoke to me from this verse show mercy and you will be shown mercy. I took some money in my hands, when I walked to the bus stand to catch the college bus. Usually I give Re.1 or maximum Rs.5 but today I gave Rs.50 to every beggar I saw (At that time that’s what I found to be my act of mercy. Do not follow this. Find your own act of mercy it might be forgiving someone who does not deserve to be forgiven). That day when I went to college. I found out that my HOD’s husband had got a job in USA and she was going with him. So she left the college that week itself. Praise God.
So I got a new HOD in whose eyes I found favor. Thus God saved me. Find your seed of righteousness. Sow it, you will receive a harvest of unfailing love share the gospel to someone, if you have never tried that is the greatest seed of righteousness, you can sow. You will reap God’s love and man’s love.
What else do we need other than love in this world from God and man.
Also the Bible says in Hosea 10:13 that’ we must break un-ploughed ground.’ This refers to surrendering every part of your life to God. There may still areas and aspects in our life where God is not fully in control. It may be your love life or any other relationship or anything. You might say “God in all these things You have full control but in this area please don’t interfere”.We must give every part of our life to our Lord or else the enemy will continue to bring problems, take a foothold in that area and make it a strong hold in our life.
CONTINUALLY ACKNOWLEDGE GOD
The Third thing we must do in difficult situations is keep on acknowledging God. Hosea 6:3, “Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear. He will come to us like the winter rain like the spring rains that water the earth.”
Most of times when we face a problem we cry to God, then sow seeds of righteousness. Surrender to Him completely, we get solutions. Then we totally forget God until the next problem comes.
We must acknowledge God in every area of our life. We must not be ashamed to give him glory offer to him thanks, and tell people that it is because of God’s grace our problem have been solved. We must press on to acknowledge him, we must remain in him our devotion must not be like the morning dew that disappear when the sun rises. It must be consistent and steadfast. God wants faithful love, not quick fixes or emotional outbursts.
When we face problems, we quickly go to God, make promises vows, we go on fasts but when problems seems to disappear we forget God.
But be sure this is not what God wants. Hosea 6:6 says God,”desires mercy not sacrifice and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings”. When we want permanent solutions require persistent pursuit of God. Only then the root of the problems will be uprooted.
So go ahead when you face a persistent problem. Cry out to God but not before thanking Him, next sow seeds of righteousness and acknowledge God all your life. Remain in Him and he will remain in you. God will not feel far away in your difficult times. Before you run to Prophets, Doctors, Pastors, Counsellors etc, first go to God. Prophets can mislead you, doctors can say there is no hope , pastors can manipulate you, counsellors can mislead you.
God will “NEVER EVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.”
So Stay blessed happy solving.
Merilyn Jemimah Amirtharaj.
