50/20 Vision

Good morning! This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice (spin) and be glad in it! Friday has finally arrived! Praise the Lord! Of course, my excitement has nothing to do with my family and I going to Fayetteville for the first Razorback football game! I LOVE football season. It is a great stress reliever for me.

This week I have been speaking about storms that come along in our life, and how God wants to bring us through those storms victoriously. Just like Elijah, it is important that we don't PROCESS the WRONG DATA. We must get our thinking right!

As I was studying this week about storms, I came across something from a Pastor that I went to Central Bible College with. He said that he received the thoughts from a Christian message board. As I read it, I felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to share it with you guys on my blog. As you read the following, please allow the Holy Spirit to remind you that your problem may have been meant for evil, but God will turn it around for GOOD.

The problems you face will either defeat you or develop you – depending on how YOU respond to them. Unfortunately, most people fail to see how God wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring. Here are five reasons God May have permitted the problems for experience in your life:

1. God permits problems to DIRECT you.

Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving. Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change. Is God allowing this situation to get your attention?

"Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways." Proverbs 20:30

2. God permits problems to INSPECT you.

People are like tea bags ... if you want to know what's inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has God tested your faith by allowing a problem or two into your life? What do problems reveal about you?

"When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience." James 1:2-3

3. God uses problems to CORRECT you.

Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It's likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove. But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something...health, money, a relationship...by losing it.

"It was thebest thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws." Psalms 119:71-72

4. God permits problems to PROTECT you.

A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. Last year a friend was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem-but it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management's actions were eventually discovered.

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good"... Genesis 50:20

5. God permits problems to PERFECT you.

Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in your character than your comfort. Your relationship to God and your character are the only two things you're going to take with you into eternity.

"We can rejoice when we run intoproblems...they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character inus and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady." Romans 5:3-4

Obviously, God is at work in your life, even when you do not recognize it or understand it.

My prayer is that we will ALL have 50/20 Vision. What is that? Genesis 50:20 Joseph is speaking to his brothers after they had sold him into slavery many years earlier, and he says "this thing was meant for evil, but God turned it around for good." Whatever you are facing today, ask God to help you look at it through 50/20 vision. Sure, it may have started out as an evil plot to destroy you BUT GOD will turn it around for good!

Yesterday Mindy Rogers sent a video to Dorinda that was the most powerful video that I have ever seen. I am downloading it to this blog for you all to enjoy. It is a human video to the song "Everything." It discusses how Jesus is our everything, then it shows how the enemy will bring storms and problems along to try to get our focus off of Jesus. Ultimately it shows how you must get THROUGH these problems and refuse to allow them to hinder your intimate relationship with Jesus. I truly believe you are about to be blessed!

I love you guys and pray you have a wonderful weekend! I hope to see you Sunday at First Assembly!

Rejocing (and spinning) in this wonderful day,

Pastor Rusty L. Blann