Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living | The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

You think you got problems? Then consider Brian Hise. The following is accurate—with no elaborations. Brian’s problems started when his apartment became flooded from a broken pipe in the apartment above his. Brian headed for his car to go rent a wet-vacuum only to discover that one of the tires was flat on his car. No problem! He put on the spare tire and went inside to phone a friend for help, but got an electric shock from the phone which wasn’t properly grounded. Brian reacted so severely that in pulling free, he also pulled the phone from the wall.

In the meanwhile, the front door had become so swollen from the water that it wouldn’t open. A well-meaning neighbor fixed it by putting his foot on the door and knocking it from its hinges. Again, Brian headed for his car, but when he arrived, it was gone—stolen while he was inside. Brian’s nightmare had a bit of a silver lining because the thief who stole his car ran out of gas only a few blocks away. Brian recovered his car and pushed it to the station for refueling.

You’d think that what I’ve just recounted would be enough problems for any one day, but Brian’s nightmare didn’t end so simply. That evening Brian went to a military ceremony at the university he was attending. After it was over, someone inadvertently put his bayonet in the car seat, and you guessed it—Brian sat on it. Doctors fixed him up, but they couldn’t fix his canaries that had been killed by plaster which fell from the ceiling caused by the water from that broken pipe in the upstairs apartment.

Summing it up, Brian said, “God wanted me dead, but just kept missing!” Talk about adding insult to injury! How much can one person take in a single day?

On the serious side of the ledger, there are days when a person would be better off if he or she had stayed in bed. Undoubtedly, Brian Hise would agree.

Question: Is God really trying to tell us something when a series of disasters befalls us? Possibly, and possibly not. Problems tend to compound themselves, especially when we are in a hurry, but there is one thing for sure: problems are to our lives what hot water is to a tea bag—they bring out what’s inside, and the hotter the water, the truer reflection of what a person is really made of.

Sometimes people are shocked at their responses to irritation and trouble. “I’m surprised I said that!” Ever say that, after you lost your temper when things didn’t go right? Jesus said, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).

A line in the autoexec bat on my old DOS computer helps me keep difficulties in proper perspective. As I turned it on a message read, “Remember, this too, shall pass!” It’s not a bad idea to keep that in mind.

Most of the time, we spend far too much emotional energy on things that really won’t count much at all ten years from now—or perhaps even ten days from now. Difficulties and problems tend to polish you as a smooth stone, or break you down and expose the barren dark spots of your heart. When you are tempted to tell someone what you think, better back off and ask whether it is worth it. Before you mail that letter which you wrote in anger, hold it for a day or two and then see if it really says what you mean.

When you sow in haste, you reap trouble. It never fails!

Resource reading: Jonah 1.