Turning Problems into Positives

Have you ever heard the saying, “When life gives you lemons, just make lemonade?” I have. And this little axiom is true. We all face many struggles in the world, but this is exactly what makes our journey a great adventure. Our perspective can turn problems into positives. Just listen to Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 16:8-9: "I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me."

Did you catch it? Paul's perspective allows him to speak of both a great door being opened to him and many who oppose him in the same breath! He can say this because it's true. We can often see how God turns problems into positives when we ask Him to help us see things from His perspective.

Let me give you a personal example of how the Lord once gave me a glimpse of this truth.

A couple of years ago my family purchased a used SUV and travel trailer so that we could enjoy the great outdoors together. After a few short trips to get used to things, we headed to the mountains for two weeks. But this is where things got interesting.

We were only about twenty minutes into our journey when we heard it – BOOM! One of the tires on our travel trailer exploded, and we found ourselves sitting on the side of the interstate for hours waiting for a repair. After I called Good Sam’s service and we got back on the road, my wife and I tried to help our two sons see that we could still have fun on our vacation. But remember that since we had one flat tire, we now had no spare.

About six hours later, we were crossing the state line into Alabama still trying to make our first campground when a trucker pulled beside me on the highway. He was waving frantically, and so I waved back. Then he just shook his head and moved on. It was at that point I noticed in my side-view mirror rubber flying into the air. You guessed it – another flat tire! Again, I pulled-off of the road and inched my way into a rest area.

Now by this time, it was getting late in the afternoon. So we turned on the propane tanks and started supper in the rest area parking lot while my boys rode their scooters and I called Good Sam’s again. But now I needed more than a tire; I also needed a spare. Thank the Lord, after hours of waiting, we found someone who could change our second flat and sell me spare. Although I had to buy the spare with about half of all the cash I had on hand, we were finally ready to get back on the road.

I guess it was about nine o’clock at night when my wife and I were smiling and laughing at the events of the day. I remember my wife saying, “Well, the worse must be behind us. We’ve had two flat tires in one day – we only have four tires on the camper.” Then I said, “Yeah, if we have another flat, I think I’m just going to keep on driving!”

I promise you that those words were barely out of my mouth when we heard it – BOOM! I glanced in my mirror, and I saw sparks flying. I pulled over, and my wife and I were crying because we were laughing so hard. This was just getting to be our routine for the day. In fact, when I called Good Sam’s again, things sounded about like this: “Hello, thank you for calling the Good Sam’s center in Minneapolis, how can I help you?” “Yes, this is Pete,” I answered. “Oh, where are you now, Pete?” “I’m still in Alabama!” I felt like I knew the wonderful people at Good Sam’s on a first name basis!

Well, someone repaired our third flat with our spare we just bought a few hours before. But by this time, it was almost midnight, and the campground was already closed. So we pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot for the night. My sons were exhausted, but my wife was thrilled because I guess a woman’s dream-vacation would be to camp at Wal-Mart! Of course, I situated everyone in bed for the night while I went shopping for tires at one o’clock in the morning. Again, I bought two tires – I used one for a spare and used the other to replace the last tire on our camper which had not blown-out, yet. Oh, I also purchased a hydraulic jack. Since I watched people change three tires, I figured I could do it now myself if I needed to.

Then in the morning, I let my boys help me change the final tire with our new one, and we had some fun doing it. But here’s the main reason why our perspective helped us turn our problems into positives. When we were finally traveling to our first campground later that day, we were on a road without a shoulder or a railing but with a steep cliff on its side. I told my wife that if we had had a flat tire on this road, I may have tried to pull-off to the side not realizing the danger, and we could have had a tragic accident. We’ve all heard that “Hind-sight is 20/20.” Well, this perspective helped me to turn our problems into positives and to thank God for His protection.

We see this truth surface many times in Scripture. Here are a few examples. Even though Joseph endured incredible pain, he later saw how God turned all of his problems into positives. He says this to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Also, although Jephthah, a judge in Israel, was cast out from his own family because of his tainted birth (see Judges 11:1-3a), he settled in the land of "Tob" which means "good" in Hebrew (see Judges 11:3b). Of course, God used this difficult time to prepare him to lead the Israelites out of oppression (see Judges 11:4-33). Finally, as the Psalmist learned to obey God's Word through His struggles (see Psalm 119:67-68), we can learn the same truth from our heavenly Father today. He's still working to turn our problems into positives regardless of whether or not we can or can't see it.