No Prob, Bob

Hello F.O.T.E.s! (Friends of The Ewe ;-)
Something has been stirring around in my head this week. I thought I'd better share it with you...
Talking with The Ram this past week, I stated, "I have no problems." We were discussing how that your attitude determines whether your life is "full of problems" or you can say "I have no problems, only opportunities for growth." Now, I haven't always been able to state, "I have no problems." It's not that the circumstances were any worse--it's that my attitude was. In the New Testament, when Peter stepped out on the water to walk out to Jesus, he did fine for a short time. He was saying, "I have no problems!" But soon, those waves caught his eye and he doubted. His former "opportunity for growth" quickly became A Problem. Once his faith shrunk away, he began to sink. (glug)
I have so much to be thankful for. I reflect on the prob...umm..."Opportunities" others have, and I realize what a life of ease Our Lord has graciously granted us. I am so grateful to Him for his loving care for us. There have been situations in our life that, during the heat of it, it seemed like A Problem. I thank God that He has oftentimes allowed me to look back later and see that that Problem was, alas, just an Opportunity!
I'm praying that The Lord will help me to discipline my mind and continuously declare, "I have no problems!!!" I realize I cannot do that on my own. The faith to trust in God is not something any of us can conjure up. I am always tickled by the verse in the Bible found in the Book of Ephesians, the 2nd chapter and 8th verse: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, *and that not of yourselves* [emphasis mine] it is the gift of God..." I love that! I can almost picture the writer getting excited, explaining how we can never work up God's good favor toward us. He reminds us that we didn't do *anything* to earn God's gift of salvation...Yes, we did have faith to believe, but doggone! Even THAT came from God. So...do I have faith at all times to confidently state, "I have no problems!!"? NO! I don't have enough faith for that. But, praise the LORD! I can ASK for it! Wow. It is such a relief to know that I don't have work myself into a frenzy to "have faith." If my faith is waning, I can ask God to grant it to me. So, with that in mind, I will say, *by God's grace* I will declare my "problems," OPPORTUNITIES and trust the Lord to work it out. Besides, 27 years ago, I told God I accepted His free gift of salvation. If I can trust Him with my eternal soul, shouldn't I be able to trust Him with all the piddly little details in the here and now? I want to confidently declare, as Paul did, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain!" In other words, what do I have to lose? If I live, I can serve my Savior. If I die, I get to go live with Him. Where's the unfavorable choice? LOL If the worst thing that can happen to me is death, it's All Good. :-)
Now, Dear Friend, you might be saying, "Yeah, sure...but you don't have my problems..." You're right. I don't. I cannot even imagine the pain some of you live with. Please know, I do not want to sound harsh or lacking in compassion! Far from it! I just want you to know that life doesn't have to be filled with fear and worry. If our Lord truly is in control (and I believe He is!) we can relax in Him. We can stop trying to wrestle the steering wheel out of His grip. It's awfully tiring to fight against Him! Oh, Friend. I pray God's rest for you. :-)
Many blessings,
The Ewe