I recently met a single mom that God has brought through some tremendous trials.  She has overcome addictions, abuse and host of incredible challenges. She’s also found tremendous strength in her faith through the support of Christians around her.   It was really exciting to observe that she is maturing in her faith. It was so visible through her attitude about herself and her desire to change future behavior.  I loved hearing her describe the challenges she faced as new ways she could honor God with her life and with her choices.

What she was beginning to realize is that God can use your obstacles as opportunities!

It make me think of Philippians 1:12

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.

You see, often we get so stuck on the why (why me? why now? why God?) that we forget to ask what. In this verse Paul is finding his answer for the why question by asking, “What God is doing?”

We know from Acts 28 Paul was in prison for two years. This wasn’t a quick overnight stay and Paul is saying to his friends, “what has happened to me served to advance the gospel.”

So if God is going to use our obstacles as opportunities we have got to learn to ask what.

• What is God doing?

• What does God want to show me?

• What is God’s purpose?

• What is God going to do through this?

In Paul’s situation he says that using his imprisonment to “advance” the gospel. In Greek, that word is a huge key word to understanding what Paul is getting at!

Advance – prokope (prok-op-ay’) pioneer advance, progress of an army or expedition.

Basically, the word was used as someone would clear the path of anything in the way so that an army could progress into battle.  By using it, it’s like Paul is saying he’s clearing the path so that he and others could more effectively spread the message of Jesus.

He goes on to say, “I am in chains for Christ.”

Instead of asking God, “Why am I in prison?” Paul is asking, “What can I do while in prison?”  Guess what he does, the same thing he does while in jail in Philippi. He starts talking with the soldiers he has access to. Every six hours when shift change occurs he gets a new audience! The very chains that were used to restrict Paul were now being used to release Paul to do what he always dreamed of.

What are the chains in your life? What is it that you are experiencing that has you asking God “Why?” The pressure and stress that you are feeling from your situation that is restricting you… MAY BE THE VERY THING GOD USES TO RELEASE YOU.

We have to ask God the “what” question to discover the answer to our “why” question.

“The worst effects are emotional… no smiles on the street and a sense of despair.”

Haiti needs hope.  Yes, as Christians we need to help with disaster relief, we need to lead our nation and the world in providing water, food, and medical care but we also need to share Jesus.  Haiti needs hope and that is where organizations like Faith Comes By Hearing are doing some great things.  They are partnering with disaster relief organizations to bring hope to Haiti through the distribution of solar powered audio bibles. 

Not only do I love the idea but I love the technology. The other wonderful thing about their approach is that  literacy doesn’t stand in the way.  With the use of these audio bibles there is no need for batteries and even those that are uneducated can still hear the message of hope that God has for them.  Currently the organization distrubutes audio bibles in two ways.  On is through the Bible Stick which is basically an mp3 player that is compact, easy to use and practically indistructable.  They also distrubute a version of these units to military personnel in the battlefield.

To get an idea of what a bible stick looks like you can preview their bible stick for kids below…

To help on an even greater scale in Haiti Faith Comes By Hearing has designed a solar powered audio bible that has the kind of amplification needed to play audio for up to 300 people to listen to a life changing message. So not only are they distributing audio Bibles to the US military and numerous countries around the world, but they also have over 400 different versions available for download and distribution.

“Faith Comes By Hearing is committed to reaching the nations with the Word of God in Audio, offering the Bible in a format that will connect with the world’s 50% illiterate population.” 

Click here to learn more about their work, how your donation can provide people with hope, and make a difference in Haiti or other parts of the world.

Haiti is in the thoughts and prayers of many at this time.  However for some like my friend Toussaint, it is heartbreak, worry, and intense feelings for his family, country and his people. He just recently received word that his grandmother is ok and you can view his story by clicking on the video link below:

It was just a month ago when Toussaint and I sat down for coffee to discuss is passions for his homeland and how he could partner with CCV and our desires to do something for this nation in need.  Now the need to aid Haiti is greater than ever.  Fortunately we’ve connected with people on the ground there through Lifeline Christian Mission. 

If you’re ready to make a difference now you can donate and be certain that your dollars will be immediately put to action to provide water, food, and medical supplies for those in need.  CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION

Thank God for others like Donald Miller that put things in perspective.  After stewing in frustration all afternoon I read his blog post (you can find the original here) and I’ve re-posted it here for your convenience. 

Back in the day, the comment Pat Robertsonmade today would have infuriated me. Robertson essentially blamed the devastation that took place in Haiti yesterday on the idea that, generations ago, people in Haiti sold their souls to the Devil and are now paying for it. I’m reminded of a similar comment made in a debate on CNN, in which yet another religious figure blamed the devastation in New Orleans following Katrina on the debauchery that took place in that town. Luckily, or perhaps providentially, Tony Campolo was also on the show and pointed out that the French Quarter was fine, that it was low-income minorities who were devastated, and then asked his fellow guest point blank whether God was angry with low-income minorities. The other guest really didn’t know what to say. Any answer would have painted him a loon.

Regardless, Robertson’s comments further divide people of faith from, well, people of faith. I don’t want to debate the theological ramifications of Robertson’s comments, I only want to point out some perspectives that cause me to no longer be angry with him, and rather, to pity him. I consider this a more mature perspective than I would have had even a few years ago. Here are a few perspectives that, hopefully, will keep you from throwing a stapler through a wall:

• Many controlling personalities are drawn to the idea of a severe, vengeance oriented God. Robertson must have read a book about Haiti at one point, but it lacked civility to cite that book and espouse an absurd theological idea on television, without context for both. It was reactionary, and came off as a manifestation of his personality, not his theology. Regardless, it was sadly irresponsible for him to make such a devastatingly shocking statement in the context of great hurt. Can you imagine giving the eulogy at a funeral and starting out by saying “before I tell you about God’s grace, let me make it clear that little Johnny deserved to die because he stole candy from a store.” There is something wrong with a person who would do this. These people are often, themselves, controlling. They are wired to build empires, and in order to build empires you have to get people to do what you say, and if you have God standing behind you threatening hurt and pain, you can motivate people. I’ve heard pastors pray and call other men cowards, get angry from the pulpit, yell, belittle other Christian pastors who don’t agree with them, fire people who will not submit to them, surround themselves with yes men and so on. Sadly, they never point the finger at themselves. It’s always YOU or THEM who are the sinners. When they need God’s grace, they usually confess to studying too hard or caring too much. But compassion comes when you realize, and it doesn’t take long to see it, that this person is afraid that if he gives anybody else a free will, they will use it against them. Their mantra is: If I don’t control people, they won’t love me.So what Robertson was really saying was “We are going to help you, but you deserved this because you didn’t do what God asked.” They were projecting their way of seeing the world onto God. No, what we all deserve is death, and Christ paid that for us. We live in the New Testament, not the old. Lets spread God’s unconditional love.

• Another truth that gives me a more grounded perspective on Pat Robertson is that he really doesn’t represent most conservatives. I come from a politically and religiously conservative family, and many, many of my friends are very conservative, and all of them would be in shock at Robertson’s statements. The media would have Robertson represent all Christians, or perhaps all conservatives, but the idea is absurd. It’s also important to let people know we think it’s absurd.

• I’ve also found that the more I trust in Christ’s redemption to be sufficient, the less overtly religious I am. And, quite honestly, the more suspect overtly religious people become to me. When I’m with somebody who talks zealously about faith, about Jesus, about the Bible, after a while, I find myself wondering whether or not their faith is strong at all. For instance, if I were with somebody who kept talking about how much they loved their wife, going on loudly and profusely, intuitively I would wonder whether or not they were struggling in their marriage. I would wonder whether they were trying to convince me they loved their wife, or if they were just trying to convince themselves. Faith in Christ, for me, is similar. It’s intimate and private. I’m not comfortable giving loud prayers. I’m more comfortable giving quiet prayers, intimate prayers. Often alone, in fact. Of course there is a time for proclamations, but that’s the key, isn’t it? There’s a time. I love that the New Testament is mostly intimate letters written to small groups of people who met in homes. I like the quiet authenticity of our faith. Robertson’s loudness and shock-jock verbiage seems strange and oddly uncompassionate. It felt like he was trying to tell us how tough he was, not how compassionate God is.

An appropriate response to Haiti:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in..”

Michael wasn’t strong enough to rip the strings from the table so he just stood there holding these two balloons tightly, giggling and happy to be holding such a prized possession. He had no idea that there was so much more to the party that he was missing out on. There was another whole world of slides, swings, tunnels, see-saws and wooden towers to explore right next to the pavilion where he stood with a tight grasp on his balloons.

I think at times we do this in our relationship with God. There is some area of our life we think we need, but we are afraid of letting go. We are scared to let go of that something that has got our attention and that distracts us from the awesome deep relational connection he desires us to have with him.

The funniest part of all this is Terri, one of my coworkers, cut the string and he still didn’t realize he was freed from the table! He stood there playing with his balloons never leaving to explore the rest of the party or the playground.

When we decide to do life God’s way (early Christianity was actually called “the way”) we are set free. Much like Michael was set free from the limitations placed on him by the string. We get so engrossed in our selfishness that we are blind to what God has for us in this existence. Sometimes the challenges we face seem insurmountable.  We ask ourselves, “How could God allow these things to happen?” Or our pride gets in the way and we wonder, “How could God let this happen to me? I don’t deserve this?”

When in fact, we really deserve nothing.  Our own selfishness keeps us tied down and blinded to the world God wants to open up for us in the future.  Hopefully I can stop acting like a two year old and open my eyes to the things God wants to show me.

However, in those bummed out moments, my mom would save the day.  She would reach into the closet and pull out a very special box.  A box that we only saw during special times and it just so happens that rainy days became those special moments.  It was our “Rainy Day Box!”  That box represented hope for me as a child.  Hope that my day would be bearable and that my world wasn’t going to come crashing down around me.

Sometimes the storms in life do something similar to us as adults.  We feel as if our would is coming down around us like a downpour that causes flooding.  It is in those moments we need a rainy day box spiritually.  When I encounter moments like that I often turn to my favorite book of the bible – Philippians.  Here is the group of verses that help me the most:

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. 10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

There are three main points in these verses that help me:

1. I need to focus on the good.

“whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things”  We have to remember that it is our choice what we allow our minds to dwell on.  If we only allow our minds do dwell on the crap in our life, not only will we continue feeling lousy but we will be less likely to do anything about it.

2. I need to learn to accept my situation.

“I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation” Paul knew what it was like to live without.  Sometimes when life is hard we need to come to grips with reality.  If we never accept the circumstances around us we can never create a plan to change them, or simply evaluate things soberly to live with the consequences of our choices.

3. I will survive

“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Sometimes after accepting my circumstances I realize there is nothing I can do to control the situation I find myself in.  In those moments I realize that this is what God has for me at this point of my life and He will give me the strength I need to pull through. 

It is in these moments that I reflect on the “Rainy Day Box” and the childhood storms and thank God for my “Rainy Day” bible verses like Philippians 4.

What is your rainy day passage that brings you hope?

• Prayer and circumstance – God will give us impressions about things we pray for, and show us things during the course of a day through what is happening around us.
• The Bible – God will reveal things to us while reading the scriptures.
• People – God will use people to tell us things. Often things we don’t want to hear. However, sometimes we get a word of encouragement someone just when we need it.

That is exactly what happened to me recently. Sometimes we face challenges that seem so much bigger than we are. Things that we can’t imagine having the strength to conquer. During a recent challenge, I asked a friend to pray for me and they said, “lets pray Romans 15:13. That should be our prayer.” It says,

13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The thing I see in this verse is that we receive joy and peace AS we trust him… NOT before. Trusting God is so hard sometimes. Especially when it is something that we have not really shared with others. Something that we have held onto so tightly and attempt to control out of fear.

The exciting part is that when we do trust God, not only are we filled with joy and peace, we also are provided with something by the power of the Holy Spirit – HOPE. I don’t know about your situation but when times are tough for me, I need hope. What we find out in Romans 15 is that God knows that we need hope and he is willing to provide it.

In my situation God was using all three to communicate with me. I’m so thankful I was listening.

How much control do you believe you have over your own happiness?

This is for guys only. No questions are personal. All it does is ask you to rank what you think are the top areas in which most men struggle. Also, would be willing to forward the survey link to guys you know inside your church?

Here’s the link:

Click here to take the survey.

Thanks for your help guys.