Problems have many different purposes. One of them is to put you on display. It’s during the times when times are tough that we can either float on and flourish, or flake out. People will be watching (and hopefully praying) that you make it through and often draw strength in your battle. It’s also during the times when the tide has turned for the better that eyes will be watching and ears listening for how you tell your story. They will draw strength from your victory.

Not at all to diminish the severity of anything we might experience in life. I know life can be TOUGH as the beef jerky in the mouth of a newborn! If I had longer to type I’d take the time to tell you all the ways I know that for certain. Instead, however, I’ll lay aside my preference for being grammatically correct and ask you to “show me what you’re working with”.

While you’re going through look for ways to be a light. When you’ve made it through look for even greater ways to shine. Don’t shy away for sharing what you’ve been through to the right audience and at the right time. Don’t back down from making sure God gets the glory. Talk about how He fixed your fears, or tamed your mouth, or changed your mind or did whatever He had to do to and within you as He simultaneously tackled the problem you faced. Don’t just tell people what you heard or read, tell them how what you heard and read paved the way to your redemption…and be real about it. Don’t skip over any steps, but walk them all as gracefully as you can not being afraid to ask others to hold your hand if needed. And lastly, don’t devalue the process or make light of anything the Lord would entrust you to endure. Instead, make a literal or figurative profit from it. It almost got the best of you so you might as well get the best out of it!

Who you are, and what you’ve gone through has to work out for your good and God’s glory according to Romans 8:28. So, again I ask, as grammatically incorrect as my word-appreciating self will allow, “show me what you’re working with”.

-AngelaMMoore316