Five reasons why God tests us....

The problems we face will either defeat us or develop us - depending on how we 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 ways God wants us to draw benefit from our problem:

1. God uses problems to DIRECT us.
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 trying to get our attention? "Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways."

2. God uses problems to INSPECT us.
People are like tea bags...if we want to know what's inside them, just drop them into hot water! Has God tested our faith with a problem What do problems reveal about
us? "When we have many kinds of troubles, we should be full of joy, because we know that these troubles test our faith, and this will give us patience."

3. God uses problems to CORRECT us.
Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure. It's likely that as a child our parents told us not to touch a hot stove.... But we probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something -- health, money, a relationship  by losing it. "It was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to Your laws."

4. God uses problems to PROTECT us.
A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents us 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.

5. God uses problems to PERFECT us.
Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders. God is far more interested in our character than our comfort. Our relationship to God and our character are the only two things we're going to take with us into eternity. "We can rejoice when we run into problems...they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady."

Here's the point:

God is at work in our life - even when we do not recognize it or understand it.

But it's much easier and profitable when we cooperate with Him.

"Success can be measured not only in achievements, but in lessons learned, lives touched and moments shared along the way"