PROBLEMS, FACILITATORS OF PROGRESS

WISDOM NUGGET: "And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about."
                                                                                                       - Haruki Murakami

Problems are like pregnant women. They usually come pregnant with "progress babies" inside of them. Please understand that most problems are a good sign. Problems actually indicate that progress is being made, that wheels are turning and that you are moving toward your goals. Beware when you have no problems; because then you really have a problem. Take it or leave it, problems are like landmarks of progress.

Nelson Mandela is perhaps one of the most influential men of all time. But you would recall that he did not necessarily set out to become that. He just wanted to solve the problem of Apartheid. He was so consumed with his drive for finding a solution to that problem that when the problem began to swallow all he had, he most likely didn't realize it. That drive made him daring and astonishingly brave. In Soweto, when the kingdom fell in darkness and shadows ruled the night; with no sign of dawn, he soldiered on and in the long run brought the black race in South Africa back to the dawn of a new life founded in freedom. Had the brutal Apartheid regime known they would never have incarcerated him as they did. If only they knew that 27years in Roben Island will make that man  "The Number One Citizen of The World" today, they would quietly have left him alone. Today, one man's die hard decision to solve a national problem has led to "The Making of a Hero" and has put the nation of South Africa in an enviable place in the map of the world, producing the strongest economy in Africa, hosting the World Cup and becoming Africa's number one tourist destination.

If you read further our key scripture, you will notice that Paul implied that the troubles that some folks cooked up, which should have caused him more trouble in prison, brought about an explosive fast tracking of the accomplishment of the very reason why he was apprehended in the first place. Can I challenge you today to focus 90% of your time on solutions and 10% on problems and see the great world of difference it will make? It was Haruki Murakami who said, "And once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about."

Things We Talk About When We Talk About Refinement

Wisdom Nugget: I have refined you, but not as silver is refined.Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering.

It is a matter of great interest to visit plate-glass works, and inspect the casting-tables on which the heavy plate-glass used in the large store-windows is cast. Each table is about twenty feet long, fifteen feet wide, and from seven to eight inches thick. The rough plate is commonly nine-sixteenths of an inch thick, but after polishing it is reduced to six or seven sixteenths. All casting tables are mounted on wheels, which run on a track made to reach every furnace and strengthening-oven in the factory. The table having been delivered as near as possible to the melting furnace, a pot of molten glass is lifted by means of a crane, and its contents poured quickly out on the table. A heavy iron roller then passes from end to end, spreading the glass to  a uniform thickness. This rolling operation has to be done by expert hands quickly, as the boiling glass, when it comes in contact with the cold metal of the table, cools very rapidly. The glass is then passed into the oven. When it is ready to be taken out of the oven, its surface is very rough. In this condition it is used for skylights and other purposes where strength is desired rather than transparency. But when intended for windows it has to go through an experience of grinding, after which it is smoothed and polished. Transparent souls are made in much the same fashion. Men must be melted down in the heat of the furnace of trial; must have many a heavy roller run over them, leveling their pride and ambition; must be strengthened in the oven of patient submission.

We call it pain or problems but it is refinement. However, we aren't refined like silver in one day, instead, we are refined through many years of life, in the fiery furnace of affliction.

As Jim Rohn said "We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment". Anthony Robbins concludes "The secret of success is learning how to use pain and pleasure instead of having pain and pleasure use you. If you do that, you're in control of your life. If you don't, life controls you."

REJECTION, A REDIRECTION?

Wisdom Nugget: "You have people come into your life shockingly and surprisingly. You have losses that you never thought you'd experience. You have rejection and you have learn how to deal with that and how to get up the next day and go on with it."
                                                                                                            - Taylor Swift

Source: Photo Pin

There was a man who was cleaning up his desk one Friday afternoon when he noticed an envelope that had been opened. Someone must have placed it there while he was on the phone. He opened it and read it, and to his shock and dismay it was a notice of being terminated, being laid-off from his job. His entire department was being eliminated along with his position. After all the years he had given to his corporation, he found himself filled with resentment and the sense of being victimized. The man sat slumped in his chair in utter despair.

He began to think of all the terrible things that were going to happen to him. His entire lifestyle would have to be altered. He thought, "I'll have to sell my house; I'm too old to get another job; I'm useless; I'm all washed up."

At that moment, the man noticed a spider on his desk, and without thinking he brushed it off. He was amazed though as he watched the tiny creature automatically spin a strand to bear its weight and swing gracefully to the floor.
He pondered: If this tiny creature could draw forth from within itself some reserve of resources to meet its emergency, why could he not do as much? For many hours, he sat deep in troubling thoughts that turned gradually to creative mediation.

The man moved from the anxiety of what he lacked to the abundance of the God-given inner resources he had been blessed with. He thought: "My security is not in my job or in my money or in my house but in my connection with the God of grace who has seen me through all circumstances in my life. They might take me off the payroll, but no one can take away the flow of God's abundance in my life."

This man had secretly been longing for an opportunity to tap into his creative ability and interest in writing. Now here was the opportunity before him. A whole new way of thinking possessed him. He felt thankful for the new door that had opened before him and even blessed his termination from his job. He left the office with an enthusiasm and zest for life that surprised even himself. To make a long story short, he had some writings published and earned some money. Now he didn't become a financial giant but more importantly he had a new found faith in himself, and became less anxious about what he lacked in his life.

Remember, like Joseph, every time things get tough, things can always be to your advantage. When one door closes, another will open. Just look inward. BE LIKE THE SPIDER. Rejection is always redirection.