Publication date Aug 17, 2023

What Do I Do With This Problem?

Publication date Aug 17, 2023

There are those times when you feel like one problem attracts the next. You wake up in the morning and your thoughts are immediately dominated by your problems! Have you experienced this too, friend?

In those moments, you have two choices:1. You follow these thoughts and thereby make everything worse.2. You pray (!) and seek God's nearness.

One thing is for sure: praying is not always the easier decision, because our thoughts and fears can be very strong. 

When a law was made that anyone who made a request to God or man and not to the king was to be thrown into the lion's den, that was a really big problem for Daniel! (See Daniel 6:8-10 NIV).

But the much bigger problem would have been if Daniel had allowed himself to be overwhelmed by such thoughts as, "Oh, they want to kill me. Why is the world so mean and evil...?" That would have made him sick and depressed. 

But he did the only right thing. He brought his problem before God! “Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.” (Daniel 6:10-11 NIV) 

friend, Daniel had such confidence in his God, even in his life-threatening problems, which I wish you and I had as well! That trust begins with deciding, "How do I respond to the thoughts that always keep my problems in front of me?"

"Above everything else, guard your heart. Everything you do comes from it." (Proverbs 4:23 NIRV) 

To be quite honest, most of the time I can't handle this on my own. I manage it when I decide to take a moment to pray, give thanks, and just "be with God.” I do this by running worship music that reminds me of God's power and possibilities, and singing along at the top of my voice, which is good for me! Find the best way for you, but go to God.

Always choose to pray when your thoughts get in the way!

You are a miracle!

Deborah Rosenkranz
Author

Singer-songwriter and author, but especially Jesus' biggest fan!