I always use to think that if God love us that much then why He brings us problems in life? I thought deeply about it and realized that the problems we face will either defeat us or develop us - depending on how we respond to them. Unfortunately, most people fail to see how God wants to use problems for good in their lives. They react foolishly and resent their problems rather than pausing to consider what benefit they might bring.Here are few ways God wants to use the problems in our life:
1. To DIRECT US
Sometimes God must light a fire under you to get you moving.Problems often point us in a new direction and motivate us to change.Is God trying to get your attention? "Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways."
2. To INSPECT US
People are like tea bags...if you want to know what's inside them,just drop them into hot ever water! Has God tested your faith with a problem What do problems reveal about you? "When you have many kinds of troubles, you should be full of joy, because you know that these troubles test your faith, and this will give you patience."
3. To CORRECT US
Some lessons we learn only through pain and failure.It's likely that as a child your parents told you not to touch a hot stove.But you probably learned by being burned. Sometimes we only learn the value of something... health, money, a relationship..by losing it. "It was the best thing that could have happened to me,for it taught me to pay attention to your laws."
4. To PROTECT US
A problem can be a blessing in disguise if it prevents you from being harmed by something more serious. Last year a friend was fired for refusing to do something unethical that his boss had asked him to do. His unemployment was a problem - but
it saved him from being convicted and sent to prison a year later when management's actions were eventually discovered. "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good...
5. To PERFECT US
Problems, when responded to correctly, are character builders.
There could be many other reasons as well that can be added to the list like to test us, to teach us and make us an example or bench mark for others, and so on…
Anyhow I guess its all a matter that how we think or take problems in our life.
May God bless us all.
Best Regards,
Samrina
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Happiness!!
Every living creature wants to be happy. Whether it is money, power or any relationship, you get into it for the sake of happiness. Some people even enjoy misery because it gives them happiness !
To be happy, we seek something. But despite getting it, we are not happy. A school-going boy may think that if he goes to college, he will be more independent, free and therefore happy. If you ask a college-going boy whether he is happy, he feels that if he gets a job, he will be happy. Talk to somebody who is settled in their job or business, you already know what he will say! He is waiting to get a perfect soul mate, to be happy. He gets a soul mate, but he now wants a kid to be happy. Ask those who have children if they are happy. How can they relax until the children have grown up and have had a good education and are on their own. Ask those who are retired, are they happy? They long for the days when they were younger.
All of one's life is spent in preparing to be happy someday in the future. It's like making a bed all night, but having no time to sleep.
How many minutes, hours and days have we spent our life being happy from within - Those are the only moments you have really lived life. Those were perhaps the days when you were a small kid, completely blissful and happy or a few moments when you were surfing, swimming or sailing or on a mountain top, living in the present and enjoying it.
There are two ways of looking at life. One is thinking that, "I'll
be happy after achieving a certain objective." The second is saying that "I am happy come what may!"
Which one do you want to live?
To be happy, we seek something. But despite getting it, we are not happy. A school-going boy may think that if he goes to college, he will be more independent, free and therefore happy. If you ask a college-going boy whether he is happy, he feels that if he gets a job, he will be happy. Talk to somebody who is settled in their job or business, you already know what he will say! He is waiting to get a perfect soul mate, to be happy. He gets a soul mate, but he now wants a kid to be happy. Ask those who have children if they are happy. How can they relax until the children have grown up and have had a good education and are on their own. Ask those who are retired, are they happy? They long for the days when they were younger.
All of one's life is spent in preparing to be happy someday in the future. It's like making a bed all night, but having no time to sleep.
How many minutes, hours and days have we spent our life being happy from within - Those are the only moments you have really lived life. Those were perhaps the days when you were a small kid, completely blissful and happy or a few moments when you were surfing, swimming or sailing or on a mountain top, living in the present and enjoying it.
There are two ways of looking at life. One is thinking that, "I'll
be happy after achieving a certain objective." The second is saying that "I am happy come what may!"
Which one do you want to live?
Saturday, August 18, 2007
PERSONAL PERCEPTION...
Different people have different perception. One man's meat could be another man's poison. A couple bought a donkey from the market. On the way home,a boy commented, "Very stupid. Why neither of them ride on the donkey?"Upon hearing that, the husband let the wife ride on the donkey. He walked besides them. Later, an old man saw it and commented, "The husband is the head of family. How can the wife ride on the donkey while the husband is on foot?" Hearing this, the wife quickly got down and let the husband ride on the donkey.
Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, "How can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He is no gentleman."
The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey. Then, they met a young man. He commented, "Poor donkey, how can you hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you." Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the donkey and carried it on their shoulders.
It seems to be the only choice left. Later, on a narrow bridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled. They lost their balance and fell into the river. You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn you. Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future.
Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is clear..
Further on the way home, they met an old Lady. She commented, "How can the man ride on the donkey but let the wife walk. He is no gentleman."
The husband thus quickly asked the wife to join him on the donkey. Then, they met a young man. He commented, "Poor donkey, how can you hold up the weight of two persons. They are cruel to you." Hearing that, the husband and wife immediately climbed down from the donkey and carried it on their shoulders.
It seems to be the only choice left. Later, on a narrow bridge, the donkey was frightened and struggled. They lost their balance and fell into the river. You can never have everyone praise you, nor will everyone condemn you. Never in the past, not at present, and never will be in the future.
Thus, do not be too bothered by others words if our conscience is clear..
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Time In Our Lives
There will be times in all of our lives
where we're treated very harshly and unfair.
And no matter how hard we look for the justice
we find that it just isn't there.
When we're offended and in pain, our normal response
is to retaliate and somehow repay.
For we want that person to see how it feels
to have the heartache we're feeling that day.
But as natural as it seems to want to get even
it's the opposite of what God says is true.
For He is desiring that His servants be different
and be Christ-like in all that we do.
As incredible as it sounds, He wants us to repay them
with a blessing instead of more pain.
And He will give us the power we need to be kind
and the strength we need to refrain.
We have to trust Him and fully believe Him
Knowing His ways truly are best.
We have to be encouraged knowing He saw the injustice
and let Him give us comfort and rest.
The person who offends us is not declared innocent
by the kindness we place on their head.
But God takes all the heartache retaliation would bring us
and gives us a blessing instead.
where we're treated very harshly and unfair.
And no matter how hard we look for the justice
we find that it just isn't there.
When we're offended and in pain, our normal response
is to retaliate and somehow repay.
For we want that person to see how it feels
to have the heartache we're feeling that day.
But as natural as it seems to want to get even
it's the opposite of what God says is true.
For He is desiring that His servants be different
and be Christ-like in all that we do.
As incredible as it sounds, He wants us to repay them
with a blessing instead of more pain.
And He will give us the power we need to be kind
and the strength we need to refrain.
We have to trust Him and fully believe Him
Knowing His ways truly are best.
We have to be encouraged knowing He saw the injustice
and let Him give us comfort and rest.
The person who offends us is not declared innocent
by the kindness we place on their head.
But God takes all the heartache retaliation would bring us
and gives us a blessing instead.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
The Power Of Our Blessings
We bless the life around us far more than we realize. Many simple, ordinary things that we do can affect those around us in profound ways: the unexpected phone call, the brief touch, the willingness to listen generously, the warm smile or wink of recognition. We can even bless total strangers and be blessed by them. Big messages come in small packages. All it may take to restore someone's trust in life may be returning a lost earring or a dropped glove.
A woman once told me that she did not feel the need to reach out to those around her because she prayed every day. Surely, this was enough. But a prayer is about our relationship to God; a blessing is about our relationship to the spark of God in one another. God may not need our attention as badly as the person next to us on the bus or behind us on line in the supermarket. Everyone in the world matters, and so do their blessings. When we bless others, we offer them refuge from an indifferent world.
The capacity to bless life is in everybody. The power of our blessing is not diminished by illness or age. On the contrary, our blessings become even more powerful as we grow older.
They have survived the buffeting of our experience. We may have traveled a long, hard road to the place where we can remember once again who we are. That we have traveled and remembered gives hope to those we bless. Perhaps in time they too can remember this place beyond competition and struggle, this place where we belong to one another... I first learned to do this from people who were dying, people who had moved into a more authentic relationship with those around them because only that which is genuine still had meaning for them. These people had let go of the ways in which they had changed themselves to win approval, and so they made it safe for others to remove their masks as well.
A woman once told me that she did not feel the need to reach out to those around her because she prayed every day. Surely, this was enough. But a prayer is about our relationship to God; a blessing is about our relationship to the spark of God in one another. God may not need our attention as badly as the person next to us on the bus or behind us on line in the supermarket. Everyone in the world matters, and so do their blessings. When we bless others, we offer them refuge from an indifferent world.
The capacity to bless life is in everybody. The power of our blessing is not diminished by illness or age. On the contrary, our blessings become even more powerful as we grow older.
They have survived the buffeting of our experience. We may have traveled a long, hard road to the place where we can remember once again who we are. That we have traveled and remembered gives hope to those we bless. Perhaps in time they too can remember this place beyond competition and struggle, this place where we belong to one another... I first learned to do this from people who were dying, people who had moved into a more authentic relationship with those around them because only that which is genuine still had meaning for them. These people had let go of the ways in which they had changed themselves to win approval, and so they made it safe for others to remove their masks as well.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
True knowledge brings humility...
Expression:
True knowledge inspires and encourages one to bring about a practical change in one's life. The one with knowledge naturally imbibes it, which is also revealed in his practical life. This is because he is humbly willing to learn from all situations. As much as there is knowledge, so much there is divinity and elevated ness revealed in all words and actions. Also such a person keeps learning from all life's situations.
Experience:
To have the ability to learn from all that life brings is to have love for knowledge. Since I have love for knowledge, I am able to experience self-respect. This self-respect gives me the humility to accept situations and people as they are and keep learning. So whatever the situation or whoever the person I come across, I only find myself enriching myself and moving forward.
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