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Category: Problems

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

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Every Cloud Has a Silver LiningAs children, my sister and I would lie flat on our backs to look at the clouds. We saw elephants, dogs, trains, candy canes … You name it, we saw it, if we looked long enough.

When the clouds brought rain showers, we danced in circles with our heads back and our mouths open. We soaked up the fun, getting soaked in the process.

But when dark clouds brought lightning and thunder, we dashed inside for safety.

Eventually the sun popped out again, and the clouds’ edges glowed! We learned early in life to look for those silver linings.

We experienced few tragedies as children. We knew when any threat did appear, we had someone to brave it with us. The belief that every cloud has a silver lining taught us to look for the good in every hardship. We learned to hope for better days ahead, each with its own special beauty.

As adults, our difficulties increased. Nevertheless, the promise of someone with us never changed.

  • We still have one another.
  • We have other family members and friends.
  • We have church family.
  • Above all, we have our loving God who promises never to leave us.

We continue to believe every cloud has a silver lining. We hold to the hope that:

  • Life’s difficulties make us stronger.
  • We can support people with similar hardships.
  • God gives strength needed for every day.
  • This life’s troubles will not last.
  • We have a home in heaven, if we trust Jesus.

“Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5, NLT).

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Back to the Drawing Board

Back to the Drawing Board

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Back to the Drawing BoardWhen we make a mistake, we need to go back to the drawing board.

A drawing board is an architect’s table. If a design fails or doesn’t work as desired, the architect starts all over. He goes back to the drawing board to plan again.

No one enjoys having to redo work.

At the same time, don’t you find it encouraging that we can:

  • Correct mistakes?
  • Start over?
  • Improve projects that fail to work the first time?

That’s why we have erasers on pencils, and delete and undo buttons on computers.

We all make mistakes, so no one has the right to feel superior. Rather, by working together and sharing knowledge gained from successes and errors, everyone benefits.

How wonderful that God provides second chances.

  • When we make a total mess of our lives, we can go back to life’s drawing board.
  • When we see no hope for the future, God shows us a better way.
  • If we turn to God, He reveals His perfect design for our lives.

I can think of no greater way to begin a new year.

“Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4 NIV).

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Caught Red-Handed

Caught Red-Handed

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Caught Red-HandedOne of my favorite cartoons features a cute little boy. His mom told him he couldn’t have a cookie. So what did he do? When he thought Mom wasn’t looking, he took a cookie, of course.

What he didn’t know: Mom was watching. He was caught red-handed.

He tried to deny his guilt. But they both knew better. He held in his little hand clear and undeniable evidence.

That doesn’t sound much different from adult behavior, does it?

Every day people get caught red-handed.

 Yet, they:

  •  Blame others.
  • Twist the truth.
  • Try to cover up the facts.
  • Deny the facts.

Everyone knows what happened and who did it. The evidence convicts them. Like someone with blood on his hands after killing a person or animal, they get caught red-handed.

What kind of example does that set for children and youth? How can adults expect young people to do what’s right if they don’t?

It’s time to set the standard for good behavior.

  • Admit guilt when wrong.
  • Apologize for damage done.
  • Correct the problem, if possible.

“I’m sorry.” “Will you forgive me?” Short simple words that need to be used more often.

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16, ESV).

Thanks to my great-nephew Kaleb for modeling a behavior I’m sure he would never do.

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Building Bridges

Building Bridges

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Building BridgesSince the beginning of time, people have built bridges to get from where they are to where they want to be.

Or, they built bridges so other people could get to them. Either way, they made connections.

We sometimes forget that the greatest bridges cannot be seen with our eyes.

Emotional or spiritual connections can last longer than the best built physical bridge. Those lasting connections, however, demand work. We must be willing to:

  • Invest time and effort to stay in touch
  • Quickly correct any misunderstandings or problems
  • Accept one another’s imperfections
  • Confront issues that can’t be overlooked
  • Forgive each other’s failures

Building physical bridges can be messy.

Frequent difficulties include:

  • Bad weather
  • Delays in receiving building materials
  • Tired and grouchy workers
  • Unexpected expenses

Building emotional bridges can be far messier.

Relationship challenges include:

  • Multiple responsibilities
  • Limited information
  • Fatigue and bad moods
  • Illness
  • Financial strains
  • Personality differences

So, is the effort worth it?

Absolutely!

I continually give thanks to all who have loved me through good times and bad. I pray that I will always be there for them, as well.

In every relationship, we can learn from the greatest bridge builder of all.

He came from heaven to show us the way to join Him there.

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'” (John 14:6).

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Bite Your Tongue

Bite Your Tongue

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Bite Your TongueBite your tongue tells another person to remain silent.

We might say bite your tongue to:

  1. Declare we don’t want to hear what the other person has to say. That person’s statement may or may not be true. For example, someone might predict a snowfall. If we don’t want snow, we say, “Bite your tongue!”
  2. Encourage someone to remain silent when another person hurts or displeases her. We will explore this meaning today.

People may hurt us, yet we can choose not to hurt them.

We can’t bite our tongue and talk at the same time. If we wait before we speak, we save ourselves and others much heartache. I don’t want to say something I will regret, do you?

Gossips or busybodies talk when they shouldn’t. They should bite their tongues. However, if we try to hurt them or anyone else because they hurt us, we only make the problem bigger.

Everyone benefits when we think before we speak or act.

Instead of fighting back with our words, why not try one of the following?

  1. Walk away.
  2. Count to 10 (or more) before we respond.
  3. Explain how the person’s words or actions made us feel, when we can do so calmly.
  4. Pray for the person.
  5. Say or do something nice for that person. We may gain a friend. If not, we still know we did the right thing.
  6. Try to understand why the person acts the way he does.
  7. Remember: We can’t control the other person, but we can control ourselves. Charles R. Swindoll said, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”

“Help me, Lord, to keep my mouth shut and my lips sealed” (Psalm 141:3 TLB).

Do you have other helpful ideas for dealing with people who hurt us? Please comment below.

Thanks to Jenny Kuo for suggesting and modeling this expression.

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Don’t Borrow Trouble

Don’t Borrow Trouble

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Don't Borrow Trouble 1Are you a worrier?

Do you think nothing will get done unless you worry about it? If so, my friend, stop it! Don’t borrow trouble. You are causing yourself needless anxiety.

Several years ago, a baseball player offered a better approach. He declared, “Ain’t no need to worry!” (English teachers everywhere, please forgive the grammar. Pay attention instead to his philosophy.)

Worry neither prevents nor causes anything, except perhaps physical and emotional health problems.

  • If something’s going to happen, worry won’t stop it.
  • If it doesn’t happen, think of all the time you wasted.
  • Concentrate instead on what you can do.

We can make a difference if we:

  • Complete today’s work to the best of our ability.
  • Show love and kindness in all we do.
  • Thank God for each day’s opportunities.
  • Then, rest in the knowledge that our day was well lived.

I have to admit that worry still creeps into my life sometimes. Therefore, I have to continually tell myself not to borrow trouble. As is true of all my life, I remain a work in progress.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matthew 6:34, MSG).

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Excess Baggage

Excess Baggage

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Excess BaggageIf you have flown recently, you know the financial cost of an extra suitcase or too much weight. In addition, who wants the backaches, delayed connections, and short tempers caused by excess baggage?

Frequent travelers learn to pack nothing but the essentials.

They leave everything else at home.

If we only did the same with the emotional baggage we carry.

Just like an overstuffed suitcase, excess emotional baggage carries great cost. When we let our negative feelings regarding past wrongs, real or imagined, control our lives:

  • We may have trouble getting and keeping jobs.
  • We tend to take our feelings out on innocent people around us.
  • People often avoid us and our bad tempers.
  • We may have difficulty sleeping.
  • We may suffer eating disorders.
  • We lose our ability to concentrate clearly.
  • We remain miserable until we work through whatever holds us back.

If we can rid ourselves of excess emotional baggage on our own, that’s great. If we need help, we should seek that assistance without delay.

As a combat soldier in an old television program frequently said, “Let it go. Just let it go.”

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

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Up a Creek without a Paddle

Up a Creek without a Paddle

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Up a Creek without a Paddle, kayak, Hongyan Li
Courtesy of Hongyan Li

During my childhood, our family loved to fish and swim. We lived near a creek that was ice cold on the hottest summer day. After hours of working outside, nothing felt better than jumping into that freezing water.

  • It took our breath.
  • We shivered from the shock.
  • Yet, what a wonderful, refreshing way to cool down.

We did most of our fishing from the banks (sides) of the creek. A few friends preferred fishing from boats. Most used motorboats, but some rowed with oars (paddles).

Circumstances sometimes left those boaters up a creek without a paddle.

The creek was narrow in most places. Therefore, they could usually reach the banks, if they dropped a paddle.

However, problems did occur:

  • Wide places left them far from the banks.
  • High water after a hard rain added to their danger.
  • Not all those boaters could swim.
  • Hardly anyone owned a life jacket.

Losing a paddle under those circumstances left boaters in trouble. They were up a creek without a paddle.

Life’s like that.

On most occasions we find solutions to our problems, but not always.

  • Difficult circumstances arise that we can’t fix on our own.
  • We see no way out.

We’re up a creek without a paddle.

How easily we forget that the One with the answers to all life’s hardships remains just a prayer away.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 NIV).

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I’m All Ears

I’m All Ears

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I'm All EarsThis little rabbit nibbled grass near our back door. He lifted those ears as soon as he heard us behind him. His body went down, but his ears went up! “I’m all ears” he seemed to say. “I hear your every move and sound.”

He stopped:

  • Eating
  • Twitching his nose
  • Hopping
  • Looking around.

We had his full attention.

We can learn a lot from that kind of focus. Don’t you wish people would listen to one another so well? How often do we try to talk to someone, but we don’t give or receive full attention? While one person talks, the other person’s attention strays to:

  • The television
  • A cell phone
  • A computer screen
  • Another person
  • A book
  • Work
  • Anywhere but on the person talking

What does that say to the person trying to be heard?

  • I’m too busy.
  • You’re not important.
  • Leave me alone.
  • Someone or something else matters more than you.
  • I don’t care what you have to say.

Let’s listen to one another—really listen, with our ears, with our eyes, and with our body language. Like our rabbit friend, let’s send the message, “I’m all ears. I want to hear what you have to say.”

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19 NIV).

Do you have a favorite expression or one you want explained? If so, please comment below.

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Blowing Off Steam

Blowing Off Steam

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Blowing Off Steam--Old FaithfulOld Faithful, the best known geyser in Yellowstone Park, blows off steam on a regular basis.

Park employees keep her schedule posted, so visitors know when to gather around her.

The “oohs” and “aahs” begin when that built-up thermal pressure blows. The height of her eruptions varies from 100-180 feet. You can watch Old Faithful blowing off steam by webcam at Old Faithful Live.

Some people blow off steam on a regular basis.

Anger wells up within them until they can hold it no longer. Then they explode.

We love to see Old Faithful blowing off steam, but not people.

Anger, an emotion we all share, is not necessarily a bad thing.

Jesus, who lived a perfect life, vented his anger when appropriate.However, we can carry anger to an extreme.

We need to control our anger rather than allowing it to control us.

  • Confront anger rather than letting it build.
  • Express anger in helpful rather than harmful ways.
  • Once we resolve the situation causing our anger, let the anger go.

“’In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26 NIV).

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