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Thinking Clearly About Your Problems This morning we are going to begin a new mini-series – not called Desperate Housewives – but what I’ll call “Thinking Clearly”. Over the next few weeks we will be thinking clearly about your relationships, your finances, stress, depression – and we may well go beyond that with some other topics as well , but today I want to begin the series with Thinking Clearly about Your Problems. (and just in case you think you’ve got problems - heres a short series of slides about someone who REALLY had a problem. – Recovering the car!) Life could be easily described as a series of ups and downs, highs and lows, good times and bad times. Each one of us will, sooner or later, encounter some problem in our lives – Those problems may result in us feeling depressed, like, “Why did I get up this morning?” Or we days when we feel defeated, like we are a total failure – or there may be other days, Dark day – when we haven’t the slightest idea where we’re headed or where we’re going. So what do you do with those kinds of days? How do you get through those kinds of problems? Well the Bible says it begins by changing the way that you think. How you look at your problems is far more important than the problems you look at. St. Paul was someone who handled a lot of problems. In the epistle reading this morning from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, (4:8-9) he says – “We are often troubled, but not crushed, ; sometimes in doubt but never in despair; there are many enemies but we are never without a friend; and though badly hurt at times we are never destroyed.” Here is a man of incredible endurance. He says “I’m knocked down, but I’m not knocked out!” Just a little later, in verse18 he tells us the secret. He says – “We fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen. “What we see will last only a short time. What we can’t see will last forever.” Paul says the secret of endurance is to focus the mind. – and in particular NOT to look at the EXTERNAL. I look at the ETERNAL, We don’t look at the problems, - we look to God who can solve them. One of the classic books in the Bible which helps us to think clearly about our problems is the book of Psalms. Almost every problem known to man is covered somewhere in the Psalms and I want us to see, from David’s example, three important keys to handling the depressing and the defeating and the dark days of life. 1./ When your situation looks Depressing , you need to think about the Goodness of God. Depression is always a warning light; a warning that you’re focused on the problem and not the solution. When you look at all the bad things in your life instead of the good things, of course you’re going to get depressed! Rick Warren says Depression is a result of the All-or-Nothing syndrome. And it’s a trap. The all-or-nothing syndrome goes something like this - : somebody criticises you and you think “Everybody hates me!” Or you go through a delay or a difficulty in your life and you think “Everything is wrong in my life!” Well there may be several things wrong in your life, and maybe ONE person criticises you, but not EVERYONE does, and not EVERYthing is a failure in your life! Depression comes about because we adopt the “all-or-nothing” thinking and forget all the good things in life. But its more than just remembering to count the good “things” you have, - your blessings – We overcome depression when we think seriously about how good GOD really is! Psalm 31 says “How great is Your goodness. You have stored it up for those who honour you. You do good things for those who trust You”. It is clear in scripture that nothing ever happens in the life of a believer without the heavenly Father’s permission. God is a good God. Things wont always go the way WE had planned, - but God IS a Good God! He knows what you need most. And He knows what will make you happy more than you do. He sees what you DON’T see and he knows what you DON’T know. Trust Him. So instead of focussing on the problems and ending up depressed – focus on the goodness of God! Now, not only are there situations and problems which look depressing – there are also situations that come into all our lives which look DEFEATING. Things we feel a sense of failure about. What do you do when you feel DEFEATED? 2. When your situation look DEFEATING, -think about the GREATNESS of God – what a great God He is! Failure is part of all our lives. Things don’t always go as we expect them to. Because of that, we feel like giving up. That may be your experience with your children, or your marriage, or your job, - and nothing seems to be changing, and you feel a sense of failure. So what do you do when that comes into your life? I will tell you what to do! - Think about the Greatness of God! Just like the net under a trapeze artist, the greatness of God is that His hands are great enough to catch you, and me, no matter what the failure in our lives, no matter how disappointed and devastated you are in yourself, no matter how ashamed you are. Ps 147, says “How great God is. His power is absolute. His understanding is unlimited.” So stop focussing on your problem – your defeat – and start focusing on God’s Greatness, His Ability, His Power. Stop focusing on what you CAN’T do and focus on what God CAN do. So , 1. when your situation looks Depressing, focus on the Goodness of God. 2. when the situation look Defeating , focus on the Greatness of God, and 3. When the situation looks DARK you need to think about the CLOSENESS of God. The dark days of our lives are those times when you just put one foot in front of the other because that’s all you can do to just keep going. You may be facing the darkness of a financial situation, a family dispute, an illness, a relationship melt-down. What do you do when you face those dark days? Psalm 112 – that was our first reading this morning - tells us what to do – It is to settle in your mind that God is going to take care of you. Ps112 says - “Praise the Lord! Happy is the person who honours the Lord, who takes pleasure in obeying His commands.” (Verse 4). Light shines in the darkness for good people, for those who are merciful, kind and just….” And so it goes on. These are incredibly encouraging words for those who are surrounded by darkness. You don’t have to have all the answers, when you know that God does! Remember and focus on the closeness of God. And if you are going through those dark days right now, what God wants to say to you is “I am with you.” He understands, He cares. He knows the struggle, and He is with you. The ultimate expression of the greatness, the goodness and the closeness of God is seen in what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross, when he gave his life for you. The problem is that we often forget such love. So, this morning, as you come to receive the Holy Communion of and with Jesus, remember the goodness, the greatness and the closeness of God, and leave your problems in His care .. |
