{"id":3022,"date":"2012-08-28T05:34:42","date_gmt":"2012-08-28T09:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=3022"},"modified":"2012-08-28T21:25:45","modified_gmt":"2012-08-29T01:25:45","slug":"the-problem-with-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/08\/the-problem-with-problems.html","title":{"rendered":"The problem with problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This week, I received several phone calls concerning problems which have surrounded friend’s lives. \u00a0The horrific circumstances don’t seem fair or just. \u00a0My friends are faced with problems that don’t appear to have any answers.<\/p>\n

We’ve all been there. \u00a0Most of us don’t walk from these times with our heads raised high. \u00a0In fact, I wish I could remember the advice I gave them today the next time I’m walking through a deep valley of despair. \u00a0I shared with my friends that often God’s plan for our lives isn’t readily visible to us until years later. \u00a0It was good advice and I truly believe what I said.<\/p>\n

However, the problem with problems is that problems are often so overwhelming that the problem is all that I can see. \u00a0Faith, trust and God’s love for me are thrown quickly out the window as I stew in unbelief and piercing pain.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>An additional problem with problems is that loneliness accompanies the tossing away of our belief in a good and loving Lord. \u00a0Once you have tasted the love of God, there is not a more debilitating pain than trying to survive without the assuring knowledge of God’s love.<\/p>\n

Slowly, we emerge from the fog of our problems back into the arms of our Lord and Savior. \u00a0Years ago, I read a unforgetable book by a man who had spent years in a Soviet prison. \u00a0As a Christian pastor, he was imprisoned as a lunatic. \u00a0He was treated with mind-altering drugs. \u00a0The book contained letters that were written during his time in this drugs-induced imprisonment.<\/p>\n

I don’t remember the name of the author but I remember one sentence that he wrote. \u00a0He said that many of the things he wrote while in prison weren’t theologically correct. \u00a0Many were written through drugged, fear-filled nightmarish days. \u00a0“However,” he said, “the important thing is not how I felt during the time of my imprisonment. \u00a0The important thing is that I loved Jesus when I went into prison and I loved Jesus when I came out.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Often the problem with problems is that we believe that we are the doubting, fearful people without understanding that we were drugged by fear and doubt. \u00a0We cannot accept that the important thing is that we loved Jesus when we faced an awful circumstance; and we still love Jesus when as we walk through the other side. \u00a0What we say or think in the middle is not significant. \u00a0The beginning and the ending are the important thing.<\/p>\n

Depression and fear strike all of us. \u00a0Who is your Savior when you enter the battle? \u00a0Who is your Savior when you emerge from the war?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week, I received several phone calls concerning problems which have surrounded friend’s lives. \u00a0The horrific circumstances don’t seem fair or just. \u00a0My friends are faced with problems that don’t appear to have any answers. We’ve all been there. \u00a0Most of us don’t walk from these times with our heads raised high. \u00a0In fact, I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,20,3,182,40,186,49,16,8,85,4,41,152],"tags":[690,21,688,7,699,715,701,694,689,483,482,57,6,700],"class_list":["post-3022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-disability","category-faith","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-prayer-2","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","category-stress","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-overcoming-despair","tag-overcoming-fear","tag-prayer","tag-simple-scriptural-truths","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nThe problem with problems - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2012\/08\/the-problem-with-problems.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The problem with problems - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This week, I received several phone calls concerning problems which have surrounded friend’s lives. \u00a0The horrific circumstances don’t seem fair or just. \u00a0My friends are faced with problems that don’t appear to have any answers. 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