Change the way you look at problems. "God uses problems to correct us". (Part 3 of 4)

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 gives us a picture of God correcting through tough times. This particular passage is part of a letter Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, telling them of the trouble he had faced.

It says, “We think you ought to know about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.”

That is exactly what we are  to learn to do in the midst of a trial. 

Where we used to look to ourselves and rely on our strength to solve any and all problems. When we face something that is beyond our control, we discover the joy of relying on the strength of the one who defeated death, hell, and the grave. 

In this passage, God through the Apostle Paul is calling us to a shift in our perspective. 

In the midst of a trial God corrects our eyesight. We’re to no longer see our problems as obstacles that keep us from experiencing the life we want to live. We’re to see them as an opportunity to experience firsthand the power and love of our Savior. To help us improve and become what He’s called us to be 

Here are a few questions:

What problem are you currently going through?

Are you relying on your own strength, knowledge, or power to change the situation?

What does relying on God look like? How can you correct your perspective during the season you are in?


Change the way you look at problems: "God uses problems to inspect us" (Blog 2 or 4)

God uses problems to inspect us.

My daughter Lilly has a bike that I recently put a new tube in. When I put the tire on, it looked like everything was fine. So I grabbed the hand pump and began to add air pressure to inflate the tire. When I did I heard a noise. There was a weak spot in the tube, it had a hole in it, that needed to be fixed. So I took the tube out, replaced it with a new one and Lilly was riding her bike in no time. 

The tire looked fine, until air pressure was applied. It was the pressure that revealed a hidden problem with the tube. 

We are a lot like that bike tire. We may think that we are perfectly fine when life is good. However, when stress comes, when the problems pile up. We see the leak. Our temper flares up and we realize that we are easily angered and maybe need to deal with some deeper issues that could cause us and our family more problems down the road. 

Problems like air pressure reveal to us our imperfections. We begin to see that - we have an issue with trusting people, forgiving others, or maybe we have Daddy issues that have not been properly dealt with. 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

When trials and testings come our way, maybe we need to see them as more than just problems to be solved. Maybe we should view them as God allowing pressure to be applied to our lives to reveal where we are weak, in hopes that through our trust and obedience to Him, HE will be made strong in our weakness.



Change the way you look at problems: "Maybe there's more happening than you think" (Blog 1 of 4)

So you wake up this morning and your spouse gives you a big kiss and tells you how much they love you. You go out into the kitchen and your children are already up, they have cleaned their room and made you and the entire family breakfast. As you all sit down at the table your teenager looks up and says “Oh hold on a minute I forgot I have my cell phone in my pocket, I better put it away - because I don’t want to miss any of our family time. 

After breakfast you check your bank account real quick and see that you have enough in the bank to not only pay all of your bills and have $3,000 leftover. 

On your way to work you get a text from your in laws saying “I just wanted to check in and tell you what a great parent you are to my Grandkids … I’m so thankful to have you in my life”. 

This scenario pretty much sums up every day of your life doesn't it ….NOPE not in the least. 

This looks more like an episode of the 1950’s Leave it to Beaver TV show than the family you and I live in. 

Reality is, life is not perfect. We have problems. We all have problems. 

We have Big problems - small problems - marital problems - kid problems - money problems - in law - ex law and sometimes - out law problems. We have problems that were caused by someone else and problems that were caused because of something stupid that we did. We all have problems - we all have trials - we all have tribulations - and tough days. 

This is life. This is real life. This is our life. 

One of the things I love about the Bible is it gives the real and raw - of life - it doesn't sugar coat it or paint some picture of this perfect utopia  …. no the Bible reveals a very real picture of imperfect people with a lot of problems. 

People in the bible with real, raw problems.

Moses, who was once a prince of Egypt - now finds himself herding sheep in the desert. 


Joseph, has brothers don’t like him - he gets sold as a slave and not finds himself rotting in a prison for something he didn't even do.


Paul, switches teams and goes on Gods side - once he makes the trade - things go from bad to worse he gets beaten - hauled off to prison - shipwrecked on Island - bitten by snake - and spends the rest of his life in a roman prison. 

Jesus, comes to the earth, his motives are constantly questioned - he is betrayed by one of his best friends - then he gets crucified on a cross. 


Just like us, these very good people, had problems. In fact they had a lot of problems. 

So how did they handle them? 

How should we handle them?  

What is the correct way to view the trials, test, and problems that we face? 

Scripture teaches us in James 1:2-4 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

Lets sit on this for a minute and break this passage down 

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds”

James says to not only count it joy but to count it PURE joy. Pure is unadulterated. Pure is perfect. So James is telling us to count it pure unadulterated perfect joy when you face trials - tough times - and problems. This goes so contrary to how we think …. 

God says:

Have Pure Joy - when your car breaks down

Have pure joy when your friend betrays you 

have pure joy when money is tight 

have pure joy when stress is piling up at work 

have pure joy when the terrible twos have stretched into the terrible teens 


How in the world is this possible?

Well lets look at the next part of that passage. 

“Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

We know the testing of our faith - problems bring perseverance and perseverance brings maturity. 

If we are honest we already know that when negative things happen to us they have the potential to shape us and make us better. We already know this personally, but its is just a whole lot easier when it happens to someone else

I remember sitting on the sideline watching my son Logan practicing on his 8th grade football team. At the end of every practice the coach would make the kids run and run and run. The kids are crying, barely making it in, and coach says, Give me another down and back. And as I’m sitting on my lawn chair watching them run, I’m thinking to myself, boy this is so hard for them, but this is so good for them. This is going to get them into shape. 

But then I would go out and run and within 5 minutes I’m huffing and puffing, I’m sweating profusely, I’m  barely breathing and I say to myself this is tough - I’m done - one lap - that is  good enough for me. 


You see when we look at someone else life - or some else’s situation - it is so easy for us to see the good that will come out of these tough times. Obviously we know that positive things come out of the negative situations. 

  • When their money is tight - they will learn how to save for rainy day

  • When their heart gets broken - they will learn to go more slowly next time 

  • When their working grueling hours at work - they will discover that hard works brings more money. 


It is easy for us to see all of these truths  when THEY are going through the tough time. But listen to the passage in James again …

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever YOU face trials of many kinds, because YOU know that the testing of YOUR faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that YOU may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

In reading this we do not find any THEY … but we find a whole lot of YOU. 

God, being a good God wants you to be mature - complete and wanting for nothing 

  • so maybe must maybe as difficult and as frustrating as it seems

  • maybe these negative things are actually positive for you … after all. 


All throughout the scriptures we see that God uses the trials and tough times of our life to be for our benefit. Even though I know that God is not the author of the bad situation … if we walk thru the trial, the problem correctly, He can take the negative and turn it into a positive. 

Lets take a look at those real and raw problems that the Bible folks had …

Moses, who was once a prince of Egypt - now finds himself herding sheep in the desert. But eventually God meets Moses in the desert and sends him back to Egypt to set his people free. 

Joseph, has brothers don’t like him - his Dad is ticked at him - he gets sold as a slave and not finds himself rotting in a prison for something he didn't even do. He stays in the prison for years, only to be released to interpret the Pharaohs dream, become number two in all of Egypt and save his family from starving during a famine. 


Paul - switches teams and goes on Gods side - once he makes the trade - things go from bad to worse he gets beaten - hauled off to prison - shipwrecked on Island - bitten by snake - and spends the rest of his life in a roman prison. God meets with Paul while in prison and he writes letters to inspire surrounding christian churches, and us today as well. 

Jesus - his motives were constantly questioned - he is betrayed by one of best friends - then he gets crucified on a cross. Three days after his death, Jesus raises from the dead to become the redeemer of all mankind. 

All throughout scriptures we see that God will use the trials and tough times of our life not only for our short term benefit, but for the long term benefit of others. When tough times come our way, the truth is there is more happening than we think.

With this is mind, maybe we should look at the problems we are going through in a different way.

Be sure to look for part 2 of blog series “God uses problems to inspect us”.

Isolation Island.

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Isolation Island.

The island of isolation is a home for far too many ministry leaders. I ought to know because I have visited many times; and if I’m really honest I have lived there far too long. During the days and nights of living in Isolation I have had plenty of time to sit and ponder ... how did I get here.

How did I get here?

In hind site. I believe there are three boats that I’ve sailed on that have brought me to this emotionally empty Island in which I long to be rescued from and never return.

The first boat is - Comparison.

We started TheCHURCH about six years ago. During that time there were about three other leaders that I knew had started their church around the same time. I like these guys, I really do. But there have been many times where I find myself “accidentally” coming across their post, scrolling to see what attendance looks like or reading to see what new program they are initiating.

In those moments, I don’t want to admit it, but I am comparing. I’m comparing what God is doing through me to what God is doing through them in hopes that I am at least around the same place on the leadership ladder, but secretly, truthfully, wanting to be a few rungs higher than they are.

I see their budget. I hear about their building program. I notice they just hired a killer youth pastor and from the angle they are taking the photos at least, it looks like the place is packed every Sunday.

In truth, looking at others drives me to the ditches of thinking I’m really good or thinking I really suck. Either way the ship of comparison transports me to a place where I am focusing on me. It has brought me to isolation.

The second boat is - Getting Burned.

When I really stop and think about it. Getting burned, is the same story over and over again. The only thing that changes is the name. “Someone” starts attending the church - they want to get more plugged in. We see potential in them. I begin to personally mentor and personally sow into them. We train them and place them into ministries. We become friends. We welcome them to our home, have BBQs together, have coffees on regular basis, and even baby sit their kids. Only to have them leave the church altogether, and I find out they have left, through the gossip grapevine or more often than not through a very eloquent text message. A text, sent to my personal cell phone, lovingly informing me in great detail, how the church is no longer meeting their personal or family needs and God has released them go elsewhere.

Getting burned typically causes me to go through a sequence of four responses.

The first gut reaction is,

I quit.

This isn’t worth it. This isn’t what I signed up for. I could do so many other things with my life. I’m out of here.

The second thing that happens is,

The pain of the few causes me to forget the joy of the many.

When I get burned, if even only for a short time, all I see are the few people that left. I totally forget about all of the people that have stayed. All the people that love. All the people that serve and all the people that want to live life in community.

The third response to getting relationally burned is that I begin to,

Put up emotional walls.

When people that are on the inside leave, I naturally want to build a wall around me, so no one can get close to me anymore. I will be here. You will be there. We will work together. We will worship together, but that is it. No on comes inside. You and everyone else can only come so close.

The fourth response is the one I so easily gravitate toward and that is,

I’ll show you.
Oh … the messages weren’t deep enough.

Oh … the youth ministry wasn’t good enough for you.

Oh … the church wasn’t friendly enough for you.

OK - I’ll show you. We are going to take this thing to a whole new level. I am going to prove you wrong. I’m going to make you wish you would have never left. I’ll show you.

The truth is, all of those responses are broken, Because all of them, I quit, I’ll build a wall, the personal pain of the few, and I’ll show you, all lead me back to ME.
I am alone with my thoughts.

I am alone with my hurts.

I am alone with my ideas.

I am alone.

On the outside I’m surrounded by people, but on the inside I am all alone.

The Third ship I often sail is - Pride

I know why I’m here. I know what I’m called to do. I can do this on my own. I’ just work harder. Which then causes me to, work more hours, ask fewer questions, and say yes to way more than I should. All of which cause cause a crash. An emotional crash. A physical crash. A spiritual crash. An organizational crash. In some way a crash will come.

I think I read in a book somewhere that Pride comes before a fall.

We all know this. I mean I know it. I know that pride comes before a fall. I know the dangers of doing the wrong thing when I get burned. I know that playing the comparison game is at best a losing proposition. But even after knowing all of thee things,I find myself once again sailing on the ships that lead me to the island that I vowed I would never go back to again.

Isolation.

So how do we fix it? What do we do?

I wish getting off of and staying off of Isolation Island was as simple as step one - step two - or step three. But it’s not. In fact I don’t think it’s supposed to be. The writer of Hebrews once wrote ....

Since we are surrounded by such a great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which so easily besets us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

There is a pattern to this passage. There is a point that the author is trying get across to us as we not only read but more importantly strive to walk out this text. Let’s look at it again.

Since WE are surrounded by such a great a cloud of witnesses, let US lay aside every weight, and sin which so easily besets US and let US run with patience the race that is set before US, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of OUR faith.

This foundational passage of the Christian life, is not written in singular form but plural. There is no I. There is no me. There is no mine. But there is a whole lot of we we, our, and us.

So how do we work together without comparing ourselves to each other? How do we heal each other after we’ve been burned? How can we not walk in the pride as we walk out our passion?

I have to be honest and say that I don’t really know, but maybe we can figure it out together.

I think that’s the point.

I think we are supposed to follow Jesus. I think we are supposed to figure this thing out … together.

Questions to ask ourselves:

1 - Do you ever visit or live on Isolation Island?

2 - How did you get there? Comparison? Getting Burned? Pride?

3 - Do you have a true community of people that love you just for you?

4 - Who are they? Do you let them in?

4 - What changes do you need to make to not be an isolated leader?

Don't climb the leadership ladder. Burn it.

Don’t climb the leadership ladder, burn it.

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Let me tell you a little bit about my leadership journey.

I spent 8 years of my ministry life serving as a volunteer Youth Pastor at small rural churches in Northern Indiana. For years I had dreamed about becoming a full time Youth Pastor. If I was full time, I would get to take my teenagers to camp, retreats, and conferences. I would get to hang out with other full time Youth Pastors and learn from them. I was so excited about one day being “full time”. 

In the year 2000, Trinity Assembly of God, our Church that we had been serving as volunteers for 4 years was financially able to bring us onto a full time staff position. I was so thankful to Pastor Parks for taking a leap of financial faith. The Church was about 150 people in a community of only 4,000, so to hire a full time Youth Pastor was a big step. But they took the chance and I was finally an official Full Time Youth Pastor.  

That summer I finally had the chance to take my small group of teenagers to our denomination’s Summer Camp. I was looking forward to going to camp with my youth, but more importantly, I was looking forward to sitting down and asking some veteran youth guys some questions. I was so hungry to grow!  I arrived at camp with a notebook that had a list of Youth Pastors names written in it that I wanted to learn from during the next five days. I was the new guy from a small church and small town. I had only brought a few kids to camp, but I was ready to learn.  

I will never forget coming up to one of the big time veteran Youth Pastors at the camp as he was walking down the road. I ran up to him and said, “My name is Kevin Moore and I was wondering if I could setup a time this week to sit down and ask you a few questions about ministry. You have about 200 in your group and I would love to learn from you.” The Youth Pastor looked at me with an uninterested look on his face and replied, “Walk with me and ask me your questions while we are walking.” I felt like a little kid, but this was the only chance I would get, so I  asked him a few questions while we walked down the road. He never stopped. He never looked at me. He never gave me a sincere answer. I guess I wasn't worth his time. I was the little guy from a little town. He was the big guy that was helping run the camp. He was farther up the ladder than I was. He was too busy to give me his time.  

Over the next few days, I tried to meet with the other Youth Pastors. All of them, except one, gave me the same type of response. “Walk with me while we talk.” “Sure, I have 5 minutes.” Some just flat out replied, “Maybe later, I have to be somewhere right now.” All of these leaders were at larger churches than I was. All of these leaders had a much higher position than I did in the denomination. All of these leaders were too busy for the new guy, from the little town, with only a few kids in his group.  

The next year, our student ministry exploded. We grew from a few students to 200 in a year. That next summer when we went to Camp, not only were we one of the largest group at Camp, we were one of the largest Youth Ministries in the state. I was blown away when I arrived. Those same guys that would not give me the time of day the previous summer, now were coming up to me asking, “Where are you sitting for lunch Kev? Why don't you sit with us? Hey Kevin, can I have a few minutes with you after service, I wanted to talk to you about some ministry ideas that I have.” I was shocked. I wanted to ask them, “Hey bro, you did not have time for me when I was the little guy on the totem pole, why in the world do you have time for me now?”  

If there is one thing that I despise in leadership it’s The Ladder.  My advice for you is, Don’t climb the Leadership Ladder, burn it! 

Through the years, I guess in some ways, I have been at the bottom of the ladder and I’ve been near the top. 

Here are a two things I’ve learned about the leadership ladder.

1 - The view at the top is not what you thought it would be.  

When you climb the ladder and get that promotion, accept that job at the big church or dream corporation that everyone you know would die to be at, you will quickly see, the view is a lot different then what you thought it would be. You still have to go home every night. You still have to pay the bills. You still have to write messages, do meetings, deal with people, and raise your kids. Life is not all that different a few rungs up on the ladder.  

2 - Someone always has a taller ladder.  

If you climb the ladder and become full time at a church, someone else has a bigger church.  If you climb the ladder and get that position, someone else has a better paying position.  If you climb the ladder and know a great leader personally, someone else has a bigger name, larger ministry, or has a more recognized leader than the one you are now friends with.  The view is never what you think it will be at the top of the ladder. Someone always has a taller ladder. Because of this grab  a match and burn the leadership ladder! 

Here are three passages to memorize that will help you put your heart into what God has placed in your hands, and stop caring about what rung you are standing on. 

Colossians 3:23 - Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. 

Whether you are full time, part time, or a volunteer do what God has placed in front of you with all of your heart for God and his attention. Don’t focus on who is watching you do what you do, focus on doing what your supposed to do. 

1 Timothy 6:6 - But godliness with contentment is great gain. 

What if you were simply content with doing what HE has given you to do? Instead of trying to do more, why not just do what you do, but better! 

Philippians 2:3 - Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 

Why do you want to serve? Why do you want to preach? Why do you want to lead? What are your motives? Is your motive to gain the attention of others? Is your motive to get on the speaking circuit? Is your motive to stay where you are until a better gig comes along? What is your motive in the ministry that you are doing? There is such great joy that comes from putting your head down and putting your heart into the things that God has placed in your hands. 

Don't worry about climbing the ladder. Do what HE gives you the best you possibly can and when it comes time for a promotion, God will take care of that. 

If you would like to start a brand new journey of leading yourself, your family, your team, and your organization from a healthy place, we have an online training platform that will help you grow at your own pace and right where you are!

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE.

Special note:

This is a chapter from my ebook - “9 truths that will scale your life and leadership”.

Get your copy here.