Do Good Christians have problems?
2 stories of Christians finding God’s way in the midst of their problems…
Story # 1-Have problems? “You must not be a good Christian…”
“You,” she said, “must not be a good Christian.”
The two women sat across the table from each other at the college library.
“What do you mean, I’m not a good Christian?”
“You’re unhappy because you don’t have a boyfriend?”
“Right.”
“You miss your high school friends, and you’re not happy with your major?”
“Right.”
“Then you are not a good enough Christian.”
“Christians don’t have problems.”
“Problems are God’s way of telling you that you are doing something wrong.”
“Join our campus Christian group….”
“Then you’ll be a good Christian and you won’t have any problems.”
Both women graduated from college.
Today both are young wives and mothers.
One left Christianity and is on a spiritual journey seeking a religion that will let her live without problems her here and now…
The other continues to pursue her Christian faith…
Story # 2: He had more problems after he became a Christian…
He left a life of power and wealth to follow Christ.
That’s when his real problems began…
He was beaten, thrown in prison, stoned, chased by angry crowds, nearly drowned in a shipwreck…
Most think he was beheaded.
Was God sending him problems because he wasn’t a good Christian?
He was the Apostle Paul…
Who wrote over half the books of the New Testament…
How did Paul deal with his problems?
He wrote…
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Philippians 4:12
Where did Paul find the secret strength to survive his problems?
I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13
“Through him who gives me strength…”
Through Christ…
Through God…
… I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
