“Problems are not the problem; coping is the problem,” observes psychologist Virginia Satir. She’s right: I know.
As I write this we have no running water, hot or cold – except for the tap in the downstairs toilet. I assume there is a frozen blockage somewhere. Thankfully the radiators are working and both toilets still flush.
Added to my woes is the realisation that DHL seems to have lost the parcel with our Christmas cards to be delivered by the Royal Mail (it’s cheaper that way) while I have just received an email from Trainline to inform us that our train to Euston is no longer running.
I could go on. In fact, I think I will. The expensive Christmas decoration which I bought last week in Bedford, on being assembled, is not working. Moreover, this ice means I can’t go for a run. I did drive to Edge Hill to use their all-weather track, only to be informed that it was closed – because of the weather.
Life, as I often tell my daughters, is tough. And it’s no joy watching the news either – even without Everton playing.
As you can see I am being laid low by a whole collection of first-world problems, problems which most of the world’s population would long to exchange for theirs.
I realise all this, of course – but there are times when we are beset by a swarm of insignificant problems. The temptation, of course, is to moan. And in doing this we lose not only our perspective but our balance, even as disciples of Jesus who taught us to consider the birds of the air, in the words of the Message translation “free and unfettered, careless in the care of God.” (Matthew 6:26)
The big question is “Do I ask God to sort them out?” I recall years ago being asked by a church member to pray that she would find the right colour lamp shade as she went shopping in Manchester.
For the danger here is that we treat the God of heaven and earth as our own personal assistant, an Alexia with authority. So our prayers become a mere to-do list for our heavenly father.
However, it’s not that we don’t pray: it’s how we pray that counts. After all God knows me through and through, even the number of the hairs of our head (not too difficult in my case).
Again in the words of the Message translation of Psalm 9 (where would I be without Eugene Peterson?), we pray to the God “who keeps his eye on us, registers every whimper and moan.”
So we are bold to take God at his word. As the apostle Peter writes: “Cast all your cares on him for he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7). If it causes us to worry, then give it to God who gladly assumes a duty of care for his children.
But we do it properly.
That is, we focus on God who reveals himself to us in Jesus and as we pray we seek to assume his perspective and to adopt his priorities. In other words, as we pray we are allowing the Holy Spirit to change us and to recalibrate how we see life.
The big problem for me is that when I pray my prayers are so easily self-focussed: I guess that’s true for all of us. So for spiritual discipline I use several prayer diaries, including the one published by Christian Solidarity Worldwide, “a human rights organisation advocating for freedom of religion or belief.”
This week we are praying for the church in China where the government’s new measures, introduced in March, have taken the already suffocating crackdown on churches and other religious groups to another level.
Today we are asked to pray for the rural churches, particularly those in the Yunnan province whose bank accounts have been frozen. This has the effect of churches being unable to pay their staff, leaving them to survive on potatoes and corn donated by neighbours.
So here’s me worrying about one frozen pipe while frozen bank accounts on the other side of the world are causing real distress to fellow Christians. Such disciplined prayer restores our perspective.
With the result that we are no longer to be held down by a mass of insignificant worries, like Gulliver held captive by the diminutive Lilliputians. Those who rely on the faithfulness of God are to handle life with all its problems altogether differently.
There is one book in the Bible which has more references to joy than any other. (Actually I’ve just checked and it ties with 2 Chronicles for first place): Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
Here Paul is in prison somewhere, even in chains. He could be facing execution. By any one’s reckoning he has problems, really big ones.
However, he tells us that he has learned “the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” He goes on to explain: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:12)
So the apostle exhorts us all: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice! (Philippians 4:4) Or as we read in the Message translation: “Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!”
Even if your Christmas lights are not working.