Today we talk about problems.  Do you have any problems or struggles in your life?  You probably feel like you have so many problems that you could divide them into different categories, right?  Maybe even alphabetize them.  Everyone has problems.  I think one of the biggest challenges people face today is understanding our problems.   We spend our lives trying to avoid them, and yet they seem to find us.  We have so many questions about our problems and struggles.  Questions like, why do we have them?  What do we do with them?  Why did God allow them?  How do we overcome them?  That’s what we talk about today.

To do that, I want to talk about the bigger themes of life.  Five major themes. Where do problems come from?  How do people normally respond to problems?  Why does God allow us to experience problems?  What do we do when we have a problem or challenge?  And how do problems and challenges make us unshakable?  

And that is what the book of Daniel is all about.  The book of Daniel shows us how to thrive and not just survive as we walk through problems, challenges, and tests in life.  Sam opened our Bible study on Daniel last week and gave us some huge life principles to understand.  Daniel was fifteen, a prisoner of war, and forced into another country never to see home again.  Everything in Daniel’s life was taken from him.  Now get this.  What was the reason for his problems?  God gave Nebuchadnezzar victory.  Because of this, Daniel had every reason to get angry with God.  Daniel had every reason to blame others for his problems.  Daniel had every reason to be a victim.  Daniel had every reason to say, “I can’t because of my circumstances.”  But he doesn’t.  Daniel thrives, and we have to see how he did it.

Let’s start with the first big theme: Where do problems come from?  There are four sources of your problems.  The first source of all your problems, wait for it, is you.  I am the number one source of the problems in my life.   And it’s true for you.  Looking back over my life, I can easily admit that I have created most of my problems.  Would you agree with me when I say, I knew exactly what I should have done, and I didn’t do it, now I’m paying the price for it.   

The second source of your problems is the world you live in.  You have known this since elementary school.  The world around us is filled with mean, greedy, and jealous people, and on our worse days, that includes us, and we all live in the world together.  Jesus told us, ‘In this world, you will have problems.’

The third source of your problems is Satan.  Satan is real, and the Bible explains that, like a roaring lion, Satan is seeking people to devour.  If you are not walking with God in prayer and reading scripture, you are spiritually naïve and an easy target.  If you say, I don’t pray and read the Bible, and my life is fine.  We call that being lukewarm, and that’s exactly where Satan wants you.  

The fourth source of your problems may surprise you.  It’s God.   Sam talked about this last week.   Who gave Nebuchadnezzar victory over Judah?  God did.   Let’s read about it.

Daniel 1:1 During the third year of King Jehoiakim’s reign in Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land of Babylonia and placed them in the treasure-house of his god. NLT

Sam shared last week how we can read these two verses and think, ‘Huh, that’s unfortunate.’  And we keep reading.  Let’s slow down and understand, those two verses cover around two and a half years of extreme stress, pain, and defeat.  

Imagine living in the city of Jerusalem.  You’re thirteen or fifteen years old.  Ever since you can remember, the prophets in town have been warning your parents and grandparents, ‘If you don’t turn from your sin and fully love God, God is going to allow Babylon to come and destroy you to get your attention.’  And then it happens.  Nebuchadnezzar has surrounded your city with his army.  This means nothing can go in or out of the city.   Food begins to run out and becomes very expensive.  Your family runs out of both food and money.  Loving people in the city turn and become greedy, evil people who only look out for themselves.  As you wait, the Babylonian army is slowly tearing down the city walls.  It’s like you are being killed in slow motion.  And no one is coming to save you.  The only outcome is defeat.  After two and a half years of living in this nightmare, it happens.   The army breaks through the wall.   

Think about this from Daniel's point of view.  Your life is shattered.  Everything you thought could never happen, happened.  The king, no help.  Your army, useless.  God defending the city, not this time.  In fact, God gave Nebuchadnezzar, your enemy, the victory.  People are going to be killed.  A small group of people are going to be ripped from their families and forced to go to Babylon, never to be seen again.  That’s the context of those two verses.  Two and a half years of extreme stress.

Then, in Babylon, Daniel faced brutal tests and trials while living in fear of death and pressure to conform to the culture rather than staying true to God.  The entire book of Daniel is about how a fifteen-year-old kid thrived, not just survived, when everything was against him.  It’s a book that wipes out every excuse we have when we say, ‘But I can’t.’

I think we can agree that Daniel faced a problem.  Here is the second major theme of today.  How do people normally respond to their problems?

Response 1: When I have a problem, that means God is punishing me.  That’s not true.

Hebrews 12:10 God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. MSG

Right from scripture, your trouble isn’t punishment.   The reason people believe, problems are punishment is that they were probably raised in religion.  They believe the relationship with God is like a tit-for-tat relationship.  I did something wrong, so God is going to punish me.  That’s not how it works.  

Response 2: When I have a problem, that means God doesn’t love me.   That’s not true. 

Proverbs 3:12 The Lord disciplines those he loves. NIV

It’s because God loves you that He will allow you to face problems.  Think about a parent with a child.  If they love their child, they will discipline them because if they don’t, it will make the child’s life very difficult.  If a parent doesn’t love their child, they won’t discipline their child.   

God disciplines those He loves.  We will talk more about that later.

Response 3: If I have a problem, I must blame someone.  

When you look to blame someone, you aren’t looking to solve the problem.  You are looking for an excuse, so you don’t have to change.  

Genesis 3:11 “Who told you that you were naked?” God asked. “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?” 12 The man answered, “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” 13 The Lord God asked the woman, “Why did you do this?” GNT

The blame game gets you nowhere but into a bigger argument.   I never sat with a couple who fell back in love with each other as they blamed each other for all their problems. 

Response 4: My circumstances stop me from being who I want to be.  That’s not true.  

1 Peter 4:1-2 Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want. MSG

We normally want God to change our circumstances, but God wants to change us.  We want to be happy more than holy, but God wants us to be holy, more than happy.  Where it is true our circumstances are our reality, they can never stop us from having more faith and love in God.  

Response 5: I can’t do it, so I will do the least possible.  

Do you know this person?  When presented with the truth of life, they refuse to do it because they think it's too hard.  A couple of examples.  If you eat differently, you will be healthier, I can’t.  If you pay down your debt and save, you will be financially better, I can’t.  If you start your day with prayer and reading scripture it will change your life, I can’t.   If you do the hard things in life, life will be better, I can’t.  

When you say, ‘I can’t,’ you are actually saying, ‘I won’t.’  You can, you just won’t surrender your will.

Jesus said in John 14:15 If you love me, you will obey my commands. NCV

It can be common for people to attend church and hear about how Jesus wants us to live and then conclude, ‘But I can’t, so I will do the least possible and coast.’  Please hear me, I love you enough to tell you, I don’t know if you are a disciple of Jesus. You may be hanging around church, but if you always say, ‘I can’t’, then you're not following Jesus.  He is trying to lead you, and you aren’t following.  Following Jesus means you surrender your will, and you do what Jesus said, even if it’s hard.     

Here is what is common about these five responses to our problems.  In all these responses, God is punishing me, God doesn’t love me, I blame others, my circumstances stop me, but I can’t, nothing changes.  And if nothing changes, we will continue to loop in our problems.  We will grow older, and each year, experience the same problems over and over.

This leads to the Third major theme.  Why does God allow us to experience problems?  Because it’s the only thing that gets our attention.  Our sin nature and our pride make us believe my way is better than God's way.  And the only thing that gets our attention is pain.  

I want you to think about something.  What do pastors and churches offer?  Discipleship classes to learn how to walk with God.  Do people attend discipleship classes?  In general, there is little interest.  When do pastors get calls?  When there is pain.  Close to divorce.  Close to bankruptcy.  Major sickness or accident.  Addiction that is ruining lives.  Why?  Pain awakens us to our need of God.  We learn that our way isn't working and we need help.

The reason the city of Jerusalem fell is that the people ignored the prophets for hundreds of years and they ignored Jeremiah for over twenty-three years.  God, through His prophets, begged the people to see their sin and their need of God.  Their answer?   No.  The only thing that awakened them to the bigger themes of life was the pain of being overthrown.  

And when God gets our attention, God works through our problems to develop us.  Our problems are like a refining fire that develops our character.   When do you grow the most?   Through your deepest pain.  It’s through pain that God gets our attention and we spiritually grow the most.

1 Peter 1:6-8 So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here. These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it - and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return. TLB

We have to understand that God is preparing us for heaven.  You aren’t taking your car, your cash, your career, your retirement, and your toys into heaven.  You only take your character into heaven.  What is God going to develop and refine?  Your character.  How?   Through the fiery trials.  

Next big theme: What do we do when we face problems?  Don’t overreact. Stop, pray, and ask and answer five questions.

First question.  What does this problem reveal about me? God uses problems to show you what's really on the inside of you. 

James 1:3-4 You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. MSG

When things are good, nothing is revealed about your character.  Only under pressure does ‘who you really are’ come out.  How do you get the toothpaste out of the tube?  You have to squeeze it.  Being spiritually mature isn’t you in a worship set; it’s when you have to walk through the ordinariness of life that is filled with struggle.   That’s when ‘who you really are’ comes out for you and others to see.

Your problems and how you respond to them measure your spiritual maturity.  They measure how much you trust God.  They measure your character.  They measure your ability to love others well.  They measure your spiritual growth.  They reveal to you if you are living out what you say you believe.    

Second question: What is this problem teaching me? God uses problems to correct us.

Proverbs 19:3 People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does God always get blamed? MSG

Problems aren’t always spiritual warfare, as some think; it can be God disciplining us.  You may be experiencing the result of living against God’s ways.   You can’t rob a bank and then be upset when you are in jail.  That’s not spiritual warfare, that’s what happens when you rob a bank.

Third question.  Where is this problem leading me? God uses problems to direct us.

Proverbs 16:9 A person may plan his own journey, but the Lord directs his steps. GWT

When did I become a church planter?  A couple of months after I was fired from my job.  Have you experienced that?  Looking back over your life, the problem you experienced led you in a whole new direction.   

Fourth question.  How could this problem protect me? God uses problems to protect us.

Job 36:16 God is leading you away from danger.  NLT  

Have you ever had a flat tire that delayed you?  You’re ticked off.  Then you discover that there was a major accident on the road you were going to be on?   Or you're upset because you have a car issue.  Then the mechanic discovers something even worse that you didn’t know about.  Sometimes your problem is God protecting you.

Fifth question.  How can I grow from this problem in my life?  We have to understand that God uses problems to develop us. 

Romans 5:3 We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. NIV

Who are the people who are the most gracious and stable people you have ever met?  People who have walked through the greatest problems.

As we face our problems and trust in God through our problems, we grow up spiritually.  It’s really important to ask yourself, How is the problem helping me grow?  

Let’s begin to close.   Let’s stop for a second and think about all that we learned today about problems.  Can you imagine how differently we would live if we understood our problems?  This is what I want you to see.  It’s the next big theme of today.  When you understand what God is up to through your problems, you become unshakable.  It’s like living a life that has courage and says, ‘Bring it.’  I don’t ignore or back away from problems, I engage them.  I don’t make excuses or blame others, I engage them.  I’m not a victim, I engage them.  I don’t lose faith, I engage them with courage.  You become unshakable because you know, through problems, God is with you and developing your character, and you are growing up.  

Sam, last week, shared a huge point.  In the book of Daniel, God walked with him as we walked through every problem.  Daniel was unshakable.  That’s why Daniel thrived, not just survived.  He had every reason to make excuses, but he didn’t.  Instead, Daniel trusted God with every problem he faced.

To the next generation, if there was anything I could put into your life, it would be this.  A passion and courage to go live life.  You live in a world that is afraid to live.  This world fears everything.  I wish I could put passion and courage inside you so you would fear nothing and go live.  It’s good to plan, it’s wise to avoid unnecessary problems, but you grow up the most when you engage life.  People are so afraid to live life these days, why?  They are afraid to fail.  Please hear me, real failure is when you do nothing.  If you engage life and fail, that’s how you learn and grow; that’s a good thing.  Never be afraid of failure.  Real failure is when you over plan and do nothing.  Every failure, every problem, every struggle that you walk through is how God refines you.  And that desire you have in you for everything easy, happy, and to do the least possible, I'm not sure it is from God.  

Let’s close with this.   When you understand what God is up to through your problems, and when you understand that God is with you through your problems, you become unshakable.