God has a purpose behind every problem

Many people think that when they have problems, God is angry with them. They think, "God's angry, God's mad, God's getting even, God's punishing me. Something must be wrong in my life. I must be out of God's will because I've got all these problems." The truth is God doesn't cause my problem but He uses my problem for good. He has a purpose behind every problem.I cause most of my own problems and so do you. And other people cause problems and the devil can cause problems and the world can cause problems and nature can cause problems. It really doesn't matter why or who caused the problems in your life. God wants to use them for good in your life.One of God's purposes behind our problems is to direct us in a new way. We see this all throughout Scripture. The Bible says, "A person may plan his own journey but the Lord directs his steps." Pr. 6:9 We plan but God directs. How does He do that? He uses problems. Have you noticed how easy it is for problems to change your plans? How very few things ever turn out the way you plan them? Why? Problems change your plans.Sometimes God wants to send us in a new direction so He allows problems to correct us and redirect us. There's a story in the Bible about this. God wanted Jonah to go in a new and different direction, so He sent him on cruise, submarine style when there weren't any submarines.Jonah was swallowed by a big problem. Sounds like a fishy story to me. The big problem spit out Jonah exactly where God wanted him. This is a parable for life. When God wants to redirect our paths He often allows a problem to redirect us where He wants us to go.We'd rarely change if we didn't have any pain or problems in our lives. We'd even ignore illnesses if we didn't hurt, so God allows pain. God is saying, "Hello! You need to go in a new direction!" Often we avoid the truth until we are forced to face it. We don't want to face the truth about ourselves because it scares us.I don't know the problems you're going through right now, but God does and He will use them. They may have been meant by other people to harm you. Maybe other people were selfish, hurtful. Maybe some of the problems you brought on to yourself. Maybe some of the problems are because the devil's trying to attack you. It really doesn't matter the source.The fact is, God says, "I have a purpose behind them all. I can use even the bad things that other people bring into your life to fulfill my purpose for you." Rom. 8:28