"Difficult times" –Do we view them as obstacles or do we view them as opportunities?

Difficult times can magnify the impact of events or situations that we encounter.

It’s like looking through a magnifying glass. When you look through a magnifying glass, things appear bigger than their actual size.

When I am going through a difficult time, I start to think that my situation is really bad. These thoughts fuel a magnification of my circumstances, and puts a negative tone on things.

Let me read to you a portion of a book, A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."

Notice that the first line says "It was the best of times - it was the worst of times." You have probably heard that saying many times, but I would like to put a new twist on that.

The question is, "How can we have the best of times, even in the worst of times?"

The Bible says, "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)

In other words, our faith is tested through trials that we encounter.The strengthening of our faith produces perseverance, as well as something within us.

How many times have we avoided difficult times, instead of facing them?

For example, you can either quit your team, or you can work through challenges that you have with them. You can either work through your marital issues, or you can bail out on your marriage. So you can either run from difficult times, or you can embrace them.

A couple of years ago, I fell down after I had bumped into a pair of speakers that were unexpectedly placed at the end of a church platform from which I was speaking.

Well – a couple of weeks later my lower back started to hurt. The pain felt like an electric shock shooting up my back. Sometimes, just a slight move would trigger this pain.

I went to a doctor to help with my back pain, and he suggested that I have an MRI. An MRI allows detailed pictures to be taken of an area of your body. The MRI revealed that I had a herniated disc, caused by a disc slipping out of alignment with the spine and touching the nerves. This causes excruciating back pain.

My doctor offered me a shot, and a procedure as treatment for this pain. After lying face down on a table, the doctor injected lidocaine, a local anesthetic into my back so that he could perform the procedure. The injection itself caused two seconds of excruciating pain. It was like someone had put a cattle prod to my back. The doctor then took an even longer needle and maneuvered it up my spine to my herniated disk, and performed a procedure. Within two days, all of my pain was gone, and I felt great.

About two weeks ago, the same back pain came back but this time I gladly went back to a doctor who performed the same procedure. Even though I had visited a different doctor, I did the procedure because I knew the outcome.

Likewise, I hate to exercise; however, I do it because of the outcome. People exercise because they know the benefits of doing it. Their bodily system works better and they feel better.

The spiritual principal is the same. Referring back to James 1:2-4; it says "the testing of your faith produces perseverance". It also produces long suffering which makes you mature and complete.

Shift your "magnifying glass" perspective on a painful situation that you may be experiencing. Doing so may not lessen your pain, but you can allow Jesus to do His work in you to change your perspective.

If you think about your most significant learning experiences, they probably happened during painful times. This is when we learn and grow, because we pay attention to the situation at hand, and because our eyes become focused on our Lord.

So in the worst of times, be happy because the Bible says to be joyful always, even in the midst of difficulty.

Also, in the worst of times be wise. As it is written, "If any of you lacks wisdom, then you should ask God, who gives generously to all, without finding fault and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe, and not doubt, because the one who doubt is like a wave of the sea – blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, for such person is double- minded and unstable in all they do." (James 1:5-8)

Do you ever do dumb things?

When I was a junior in high school, I was walking down a street in Redmond, Oregon, and I was looking across the street at a girl. Unaware of my surroundings, I walked smack into this parking meter. I sure didn’t impress her.

When we do something dumb, we usually get ourselves in a bad situation.

Sometimes you may say dumb things and think, "Oops!-I should not have said that."

Sometimes you may do something, and now you are in a pickle.

When this happens, you need to stop and ask yourself what is the wise thing to do?

People may say they do not know what to do, and commit an unwise act.

They know what to do if they refer back to the Bible, because the answer is given in the Bible. Most of the time, it is not an issue of whether we know what to do in our lives. It’s usually more of a decision whether we do what we are suppose to do or not.

When you have a tough decision to make, famous author and Pastor Andy Stanley said to ask yourself this question, "What is the wise thing for you to do, in light of your past experience, your present circumstances, and your future hopes and dreams?

Think about what you have to do to obtain a happy marriage, or what you have to do to follow Jesus. Then don’t do things that will compromise this. It’s usually not a matter of not knowing what we should do - it is a matter of doing what we know.

So what happens if we do come across a situation where we do not know what to do?

The Bible says in James 1:5, if you want wisdom, then ask God. This passage says to Ask God who gives generously, without finding fault in you.

Generously means more than enough, or more than necessary. God will give you more than you need if you just ask Him – that’s awesome!

Don’t have an attitude that I am not going to ask God for wisdom, because I don’t want to bother him, or because I believe that I am not really worthy of it. The gospel is a gospel of grace – of His goodness.

James 1:5 also says to believe, and don’t doubt that you will receive God’s wisdom when you do ask. According to the Book of James, doubting is analogous to the actions of the wind and the waves. The wind blows you in many directions, and the waves can take you up, or they can take you down. Doubting causes you to be a "double-minded person". In this passage it means a person who believes, and then does not believe.

What James is saying is if you are independent, if you are self-sufficient, if you think that you can handle things on your own - without God’s help, then you ought to reflect on this attitude. The idea here is if you are dependent upon God, then you know that you lack, and you know that you cannot accomplish things on your own. You can either humble yourself, and God will lift you up, or you can be proud, and He will take you down. This is because "God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble." (James 4:6) and "Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation since they will pass away like a wild flower." (James 1:9-10)

Therefore, when trials are happening, we must reflect on our own thoughts that we have concerning our situation. We must first joyfully face our adversity – knowing that the outcome of joyfully handling this trial is maturity. Secondly, be wise. God will give you the wisdom you need to overcome your obstacles, but you have to ask Him. Thirdly, be secure. In other words, do not be self sufficient, but depend on Him.

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