My life is full of problems; perhaps yours is too. Sometimes, I wish that all the problems in my life would just disappear. But on second thought, maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to oust these blessings in disguise.
The dictionary that came with my MacBook says that a problem is “a matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful…” The secondary meaning listed below this explains that a problem is “a thing that is difficult to achieve or accomplish…” When someone utters the word “problem” we all tend to think of the first meaning in my dictionary. However, there is a problem with assuming that every problem is a problem. Well, of the unwelcome or harmful kind, anyway.
Take for instance the fact that I was recently informed by Alltel that my wife and I have already used 300 minutes of the 500 minutes that we have to share on our cell phone plan and our billing cycle isn’t coming any time soon. This is a problem. As we search for a solution to the problem, we can get discouraged and stingy with our minutes. Our prayers can be full of the pains of our recent problems: “Oh, God! Why must we pay more for more minutes when You have promised to never leave us nor forsake us? Where are You in this time of turmoil?” As I thought about it, I started to realize the reason that we’ve used so many minutes. I’ve been receiving more and more phone calls from members at TOP either wishing to be more connected to the church, to schedule counseling or to know the opportunities to serve. Is this a problem? Yes, it is, but it’s a good one. It’s an indicator of the good things that God is doing at Tabernacle of Praise.
On the flip side, there is a danger in the false bravado that says that all problems are good. There are some problems that are not good, and should be dealt with immediately. These are the harmful problems. Some that come to mind for the leader are addictions, time wasters, procrastination and burn out. If you encounter any of these problems, make any and every change to deal with them right away! They will destroy your ability to grow and prosper.
On our way to being good leaders, we pray for many things–revival, a career, education, prosperity, freedom from debt, our own business, the ability to serve on mission trips, new converts in the church. Oftentimes, we do not realize that these wonderful things that we pray for come with problems. It is imperative that we distinguish which ones are good problems and which ones are bad. If we cannot discern the difference, we may give up the fight because of problems that actually show the progress in our lives (like the minutes on my bill), or we might tolerate problems that need to be fixed.
Do you tend to think of problems as good or bad? What are some good problems that you have today?
