Word: Romans 5:3 (NLT) "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance."
Take a permanent vacation from problems . . .
Harold Stephens said, "There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem." We need to learn to take a vacation from worrying about problems, and simply be concerned enough to solve the problem.
In the movie, "What About Bob" (directed by Frank Oz; written by Tom Schulman & Alvin Sargent), the psychiatrist, played by Richard Dreyfuss is trying to help the terribly paranoid Bob, played by Bill Murray, to overcome his many fears. The Dr. is on vacation, but Bob wants and needs his help immediately, so he sneakily discovers where the Dr. is vacationing and looks him up seeking his help. So, trying to get rid of him, the Dr. writes Bob out a "prescription" to "take a vacation" from all his problems. In the movie, the lines go something like this:
Psychiatrist: "Problems don't go away just because I go. Bob, I'd like you to ... take a long look around you. What does everything you see here have in common? Vacation, Bob, Vacation. Now, Bob, I can't at this time give you the kind of therapy you need to solve all your problems and you know why?"
Bob: "You're on vacation!"
Psychiatrist: "Exactly! What I can do, is, this. . ."
Bob: "Don't give me pills! I already have plenty!"
Psychiatrist: "This is not pills! (He hands Bob the handwritten prescription and tells him) Read It!"
Bob: "It says, 'Take a vacation from my problems'.
Psychiatrist: "I give you a permission to take a vacation from your problems! Not a vacation from your work, not a vacation from daily life. "
Bob: "But a vacation from my problems."
Psychiatrist: "Exactly! And now I want you to get on that bus and go back to New York."
Bob: "But!"
Psychiatrist: "Every single time a problem arises, I want you to take that prescription out
and follow it to the letter, Doctor's orders. I'll see you in New York, in my office in one month."
Bob: "This is incredible! This is a step on me! For the first time since ever, I feel free! You gave me a great gift Doctor! The gift of life! I knew coming right here was the right thing to do..."
Psychiatrist: "It feels right because you are here and it feels right because you're leaving."
Bob: "Have a great vacation!"
Psychiatrist: "You too Bob!"
Bob: "The vacation from my problems!" (end quote)
Of course, the whole movie is about Bob repeatedly imposing on the Dr's vacation until he drives the doctor crazy. It's a good movie; however, it is just a movie. But, what if God Himself actually wrote you a prescription to, "Take a vacation?" Would that encourage you? Would you do so? Well, He has given us each a prescription in the Word of God to "take a vacation from your problems". Let's read His prescription more carefully:
"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance." Romans 5:3. We can be happy when we run into problems. Paul learned this truth. His life was full of problems.
Read the life of David. He had as difficult a life as anyone reading this. At times, he despaired. The Psalms are filled with his lamentations, such as in Psalms 25:17 (NLT): "My problems go from bad to worse. Oh, save me from them all!" David, like all of us, didn't like his problems at all! But, they drove Him to God and they drove him to his knees. So, for that purpose, problems became a blessing. Out of David's problems came the wonderful Psalms 25:4-5 that we discussed yesterday: "Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day."
Stop looking at problems as some horrible thing to be all shook up about. See them as God-given opportunities to learn how to trust Him and to find the way out of problems by prayer and the Word. Take a permanent vacation from problems by seeing them as potentials: potentials to make your life more enjoyable by learning to solve them.
We can learn from ancient David the psalmist. And, we can learn from a present day David: David Ring. He has cerebral palsy. He's hard to understand. He walks funny. Some people mistakenly think he is mentally retarded. They said he could never preach. But, he preaches to over 100,000 people a year.They said he would never get married. He's married too, (to a lovely woman) and has four children. They said he could never make it as an evangelist. But, he received 700 invitations to preach in just one year alone. He answered the call and now has one of the most unique ministries in America, bringing hope to the hopeless. It is hard for him to walk. It's hard for him to eat. It is hard for him to talk. He often ends his sermons with this wise statement: "I have cerebral palsy. What's your problem?" (Google "David Ring" and listen to his preaching. It is very inspiring!)
Job lost everything he had and 10 children in one day! He had a problem indeed. What's your problem? We don't have a problem, relatively speaking! If we do, we should learn from Paul who was constantly buffeted by demons, men and circumstances. This was his thorn (not sickness!). Like us, he asked God to deliver him and make life easier for him. But God "said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in (took a vacation during) necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake, for when I am week, then am I strong". II Cor. 12:8-10. The New Living Translation translates verse 10: "That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Paul "took pleasure" in his many problems. In other words, he took a vacation right in the middle of them. Why? Because, like David Ring, he learned that God can turn problems around and make them into something wonderful!
Your life this side of heaven will never be without problems. Since that is the case, you can either be a problem maker, a problem sufferer, or a problem solver. So, take a vacation from your problems, by joyfully riding them to victory. David Ring has cerebral palsy. What's your problem? Make fun of it, and let it strengthen you, as David Ring does. See a problem as a thing of pleasure, like Paul did. It's either a part of your vacation or a part of your misery: it's your decision. I say let's take a vacation together from problems for the rest of the year. Are you in agreement with me? Let's agree together on Rom. 5:3 (NLT): "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems." Don't run from problems any more: run into them and "take pleasure" in them . . . by faith!
Prayer: "Father, forgive me for trying to escape problems. Teach me to solve problems. Teach me to be happy in spite of them."
Confession: "I am happy to have so many problems. It's part of my vacation plans."
(Unless otherwise noted, all scriptural references are from the New King James Version, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1981)
Take a permanent vacation from problems . . .
Harold Stephens said, "There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem." We need to learn to take a vacation from worrying about problems, and simply be concerned enough to solve the problem.
In the movie, "What About Bob" (directed by Frank Oz; written by Tom Schulman & Alvin Sargent), the psychiatrist, played by Richard Dreyfuss is trying to help the terribly paranoid Bob, played by Bill Murray, to overcome his many fears. The Dr. is on vacation, but Bob wants and needs his help immediately, so he sneakily discovers where the Dr. is vacationing and looks him up seeking his help. So, trying to get rid of him, the Dr. writes Bob out a "prescription" to "take a vacation" from all his problems. In the movie, the lines go something like this:
Psychiatrist: "Problems don't go away just because I go. Bob, I'd like you to ... take a long look around you. What does everything you see here have in common? Vacation, Bob, Vacation. Now, Bob, I can't at this time give you the kind of therapy you need to solve all your problems and you know why?"
Bob: "You're on vacation!"
Psychiatrist: "Exactly! What I can do, is, this. . ."
Bob: "Don't give me pills! I already have plenty!"
Psychiatrist: "This is not pills! (He hands Bob the handwritten prescription and tells him) Read It!"
Bob: "It says, 'Take a vacation from my problems'.
Psychiatrist: "I give you a permission to take a vacation from your problems! Not a vacation from your work, not a vacation from daily life. "
Bob: "But a vacation from my problems."
Psychiatrist: "Exactly! And now I want you to get on that bus and go back to New York."
Bob: "But!"
Psychiatrist: "Every single time a problem arises, I want you to take that prescription out
and follow it to the letter, Doctor's orders. I'll see you in New York, in my office in one month."
Bob: "This is incredible! This is a step on me! For the first time since ever, I feel free! You gave me a great gift Doctor! The gift of life! I knew coming right here was the right thing to do..."
Psychiatrist: "It feels right because you are here and it feels right because you're leaving."
Bob: "Have a great vacation!"
Psychiatrist: "You too Bob!"
Bob: "The vacation from my problems!" (end quote)
Of course, the whole movie is about Bob repeatedly imposing on the Dr's vacation until he drives the doctor crazy. It's a good movie; however, it is just a movie. But, what if God Himself actually wrote you a prescription to, "Take a vacation?" Would that encourage you? Would you do so? Well, He has given us each a prescription in the Word of God to "take a vacation from your problems". Let's read His prescription more carefully:
"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance." Romans 5:3. We can be happy when we run into problems. Paul learned this truth. His life was full of problems.
Read the life of David. He had as difficult a life as anyone reading this. At times, he despaired. The Psalms are filled with his lamentations, such as in Psalms 25:17 (NLT): "My problems go from bad to worse. Oh, save me from them all!" David, like all of us, didn't like his problems at all! But, they drove Him to God and they drove him to his knees. So, for that purpose, problems became a blessing. Out of David's problems came the wonderful Psalms 25:4-5 that we discussed yesterday: "Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day."
Stop looking at problems as some horrible thing to be all shook up about. See them as God-given opportunities to learn how to trust Him and to find the way out of problems by prayer and the Word. Take a permanent vacation from problems by seeing them as potentials: potentials to make your life more enjoyable by learning to solve them.
We can learn from ancient David the psalmist. And, we can learn from a present day David: David Ring. He has cerebral palsy. He's hard to understand. He walks funny. Some people mistakenly think he is mentally retarded. They said he could never preach. But, he preaches to over 100,000 people a year.They said he would never get married. He's married too, (to a lovely woman) and has four children. They said he could never make it as an evangelist. But, he received 700 invitations to preach in just one year alone. He answered the call and now has one of the most unique ministries in America, bringing hope to the hopeless. It is hard for him to walk. It's hard for him to eat. It is hard for him to talk. He often ends his sermons with this wise statement: "I have cerebral palsy. What's your problem?" (Google "David Ring" and listen to his preaching. It is very inspiring!)
Job lost everything he had and 10 children in one day! He had a problem indeed. What's your problem? We don't have a problem, relatively speaking! If we do, we should learn from Paul who was constantly buffeted by demons, men and circumstances. This was his thorn (not sickness!). Like us, he asked God to deliver him and make life easier for him. But God "said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in (took a vacation during) necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake, for when I am week, then am I strong". II Cor. 12:8-10. The New Living Translation translates verse 10: "That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Paul "took pleasure" in his many problems. In other words, he took a vacation right in the middle of them. Why? Because, like David Ring, he learned that God can turn problems around and make them into something wonderful!
Your life this side of heaven will never be without problems. Since that is the case, you can either be a problem maker, a problem sufferer, or a problem solver. So, take a vacation from your problems, by joyfully riding them to victory. David Ring has cerebral palsy. What's your problem? Make fun of it, and let it strengthen you, as David Ring does. See a problem as a thing of pleasure, like Paul did. It's either a part of your vacation or a part of your misery: it's your decision. I say let's take a vacation together from problems for the rest of the year. Are you in agreement with me? Let's agree together on Rom. 5:3 (NLT): "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems." Don't run from problems any more: run into them and "take pleasure" in them . . . by faith!
Prayer: "Father, forgive me for trying to escape problems. Teach me to solve problems. Teach me to be happy in spite of them."
Confession: "I am happy to have so many problems. It's part of my vacation plans."
(Unless otherwise noted, all scriptural references are from the New King James Version, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1981)
"I Have Cerebral Palsy"
By Evangelist Dea Warford
By Evangelist Dea Warford
Helping equip God's people to minister
more effectively to the lost in their community.
more effectively to the lost in their community.
Evangelist Dea Warford
