A guy who had just completed some
brickwork on the second floor. He had bricks left over and was trying
to decide the best way to get the load of bricks back down to ground
level without breaking them.
He noticed a fifty-five-gallon barrel on
the ground and thought, “I know what I’ll do. I’ll tie some rope around
that barrel, hook a pulley to the second-floor eave and pull the barrel
up to the second floor. Then I can load the bricks into the barrel and
let it back down to the ground.” So that is what he did.
Well the things he did not think of is
that fifty-five-gallon drum full of bricks was four times heavier than
him. So he slipped the knot and the barrel shot down, while he shot up.
As he shot past the barrel, it hit his shoulder, hip and kneecap. The
barrel crashed to the ground, and his head smashed into the pulley
above, cracking his skull.
When the barrel hit the ground, the
bricks were so heavy they knocked the bottom out of the barrel. Up the
barrel came, and down came our guy. When the barrel zipped by him it
smashed his other knee, other hip, his nose and smashed him on top of
the pile of leftover bricks. He turned both ankles, scuffed up his
shins, and knocked the wind out of him. So he let loose of the rope.
Down came the barrel right top of him to
finish the job from the previous two hit-and-runs. Later he found
himself lying in the hospital, bruised, sprained, broken, and saying to
himself, “I don’t know whether to file one insurance claim or five.”
This story illustrates, and I am sure
that you would agree, that life is full of ups and downs. Just when our
lives seem to be in order, the bottom falls out. Then when we recover
from that blow, more problems come crashing down on us. Let’s face it,
life is full of problems.
We all have financial struggles.
We all lose love ones to death.
We all experience sickness.
We all battle with stress and anxiety.
We all have problems.
One cold day in January of 1994, an
associate minister in Texas decided to work at home instead of at the
office. The heater at home was much better than the ancient heater
installed at the church. On that cold and frigid morning, his wife told
him point blank-- “If you don’t take out the trash today, I’m divorcing
you.” He said, “honey, I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about it.”
About 11 o’clock that morning, as he was
comfortably sitting in his lazy boy recliner, reading the Bible, he
heard the trash truck drive up his street. The sound of that truck
immediately prompted his mind to think, “You forgot to take the trash
out again, and this time, it’s going to cost your marriage.” Even today,
the sound of a trash truck gives him anxiety attacks.
Since he didn’t want to lose his
marriage, he immediately jumped out of my chair, grabbed the trash, ran
out the front door, and placed the trash in its proper pickup place just
as the garbage collector pulled up. He made it. He saved his
marriage. As he was walking back to the door, glorying in victory, he
realized that he was freezing. You see, since he was in such a hurry to
deliver the trash, he didn’t check what he was wearing. And when he
looked down, he noticed he was wearing boxer shorts and a muscle shirt.
Since he didn’t want his neighbors to
see him, he made a dash to the front door. However, when he turned the
doorknob, it wouldn’t move. He (a preacher) had locked myself out of my
house with no backup key wearing boxer shorts in 19-degree weather. He
had a problem. His options were simple; freeze to death on the porch
until his wife came home from work or walk to a neighbor’s house in his
underwear to use the telephone. He was desperate. He walked to eight
different homes until finally a woman answered the door and allowed him
to use the telephone. His wife brought him a key. To this day, his
wife teases him about that time she found him at another woman’s house
in his underwear.
This story may indicate an embarrassing
problem, even though the embarrassment has lingered, by keeping a
positive attitude this preacher has turned a problem into a humorous
anecdote. God never promised that we would live a problem-free life.
Many passages indicate that we will experience hard times.
James 1:2 – My brethren, count it all
joy when you fall into various trials
1 Peter 1:6 – In this you greatly
rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been
grieved by various trials,
The bible says we will have problems,
however, when problems occur, we can overcome them.
Someone once wrote, “All problems become
smaller if you don’t dodge them but confront them. Touch a thistle
timidly and it will prick you; grasp it boldly and its spines crumble.”
We must never allow our problems to bring us down, instead, we must
bring down the problems. This week and next we are going to discuss a
few ways to triumph over the problems that life throws at us.
One of the things we need to triumph
over life’s problems is a positive attitude.
When problems strike, most people get
angry, bitter, discouraged, and many times depressed. However, the
Bible teaches that when problems occur, we should rejoice and maintain a
good attitude.
Romans 5:3-4 – And not only that, but
we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces
perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
The word for rejoice literally means to
“glory in.” We are to find glory in our sufferings.
This verse even tells us why should we
find glory in our sufferings. Because suffering produces patience,
character, and hope. In other words, suffering is designed to make us
better not bitter people. God allows us to have problems so that we may
mature and grow in our faith and in our character.
When a problem invades our lives,
instead of sinking into despair and focusing on the negative aspect of
the problem, we should look at the good that could come out of it. This
can be very hard sometimes, but it is possible for something good to
come from our pain.
The next time you encounter a problem
that is causing you mental or physical pain, try to maintain a positive
attitude. There will be a rainbow at the end of the tunnel.
Habakkuk 3:17-18
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the
olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be
cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls. Yet
I will rejoice in the
Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
One thing that might help you keep your
attitude positive is knowing that even when you do not think you have
the strength to power through your problems, God will never allow you to
face more than you can handle. We are promised this in 1 Corinthians
10:13
No
temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man;
but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what
you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape,
that you may be able to bear it.
You might not feel like it, but the
Father knows you have the strength to carry through your problems, if
you will let him help.
So do all you can to find a way to
rejoice in the Lord through our troubles. We are to be like the prophet
Habakkuk. And praise God even when our world is ending.
The next key to triumphing over life’s
problems is learning to live one day at a time and not worry about
yesterday’s or tomorrow’s problems.
Jesus tells us this in (Matthew 6:34).
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
If we bring yesterday’s troubles and
tomorrow’s problems in today, then we will be so burdened down with
stress that we will not be able to function properly in the present. We
have enough problems to deal with in one day than to deal with past and
future concerns as well. Jesus wants us to live one day at a time and
not worry with past or future problems.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s daughter was away
from home attending school. In corresponding with her famous father,
she made it clear to him that she was brooding over a past mistake that
had left her with a troubled conscience. Emerson wrote his daughter and
said:
Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt
crept in; but get rid of them and forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day, and you should never encumber its potentialities
and invitations with the dread of the past. You should not waste a
moment of today on the rottenness of yesterday.
Maybe you are living with a sense of
failure and guilt, or an unhappy realization that you have not been the
kind of person you ought to be. Maybe the problems of the past are
weighing heavily on you and squelching your happiness.
If you are in this situation, you can
triumph over your problems and start living a happy life if you start
living one day at a time and forgive yourself for your past mistakes,
and forgetting them.
Paul tells us this in Philippians
3:13-14 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forward to those things which are ahead,
I press toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
When problems arise, if we maintain a
positive attitude and live one-day at time and forgetting about
yesterday’s problems and stop borrowing troubles from tomorrow’s
concerns, we can be on our way to triumph over the problems we face, and
maybe a little happiness amid our trials.
Next week we will talk about a few more
ways to find triumph even amidst our troubles. We will talk about how
they can help us grow. And we will hopefully put a reminder in hearts
that even when our troubles seem to much to bear, we can lean on each
other, knowing our God is greater than any trial we have.
If you need the prayers of the church to
help you, or today is the day you have decided to put on Christ in
baptism. Please come forward as we stand and sing.
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