Jun P. Espina 5 min read
Updated on June 13th, 2022
Understand the Nature of a Problem
Problems come and go, but you need to have peace with yourself. Yes. Some problems don’t have a solution. Death is one example. It has no way out. Our future death is not a problem for us. Am I right? We don’t even bother to buy our coffin or iron our grave clothes. To mourn over spilled milk is like providing a solution to an unsolvable problem. Just let the dogs lick it, then forget it.
I find this principle helpful: if a problem has a solution; it is a problem. But if it is unsolvable, then it is a fact of life. Live with it like living with your not so beautiful face. My daughter wanted me to use a high-quality skin care product, but I told her I love the opportunity to grow older by the day while most of my acquaintances are now six feet under.
Read More: A Happy Life from the Inside
I visited Dictator Marcos’ viewable (glass) grave years back. I felt uneasy inside me, for why make such a disgusting spectacle? Who is he in history books (unless some powers will tinker Philippine history and burn all Martial Law books!), by the way? Death is a fact of life and not a problem because it doesn’t have a solution. A glass grave (or whatever locution to describe it) is not helping anything except for the verbalism of a political agenda, whatever it is.
Go Easy with Your Problems and be at Peace with Yourself
If you are not Michael Jackson, but hate your face like he did, don’t use the mirror often. They said, “if your problem is your face, don’t face your problem.” If you’re not good-looking, that’s a fact of life. And you don’t need to worry about that. If the so-called not-so-good-looking guys commit suicide together in one day, the world’s population will shrink to about 95%. We are multitudes—countless! Yes, we need to be unruffled with ourselves.
To be truly peaceful, the first thing we need is to identify our guilt centers. If you don’t feel guilty killing people, for instance, your keen sense of righteous judgment is defective. Hence, the prison cell is no problem for you. For you knew murder has always been a part of your barbarity. Committing a crime is very natural; it is part of your being a killer and a criminal by character. No true peace to the sinner, however, even if he has a twisted and sick conscience, and a wrestled sense of guilt. “‘There is no peace for the wicked,’ says the LORD.” (Is. 48:22)
Why are We Less Victorious Over Our Problems?
We are less victorious with our problems when we don’t examine the circumstance we are facing. Are they truly a problem? One day, for example, I lost my car key. I sat down after I wasted almost half an hour scouring the entire area where I worked with my laptop. My first rule was to identify if my lost car key was actually a problem, since I could have easily replaced it. “Be at peace with yourself,” it rung in my subconscious mind.
I realized I had not prayed for my lost key yet. So, I gathered my two little grandchildren (they don’t understand the value of prayer yet!) and told them to help me pray for my key. (We had a brief prayer meeting of sorts. The oldest of them was less than nine years old.) After a few minutes, I found my lost key, and it glorified our Lord Jesus since my little grand children learned the nearness and reality of the Christ we worshipped together in our family.
We need to identify our problems, then find a solution. God is just near us, according to the apostle Paul. Don’t stress out for little things. Without a solution, a problem ceases to be a problem. It is a fact of life, and all we can do is accept it instead of worrying.
Be at Peace with Yourself Because You Make Most of Your Problems
Most of our problems are simply our own making. A man reaps what he sows, says the Good Book. I have an illustration. A successful career woman found out that her husband had an affair. A man will always crave with a woman, and when his busy wife is not available, he will look for some pleasure elsewhere. Now, why put the blame on the wife when she was more responsible than her unfaithful husband?
Well, let’s trace the cause of the problem; let’s identify its origin since biblically the woman must submit herself to her own husband. (Eph. 5:22) Whatever that means, the wife should serve her husband before anything else. The feminists don’t like that; hence, they hate the Bible. But very few are like them, for women are always submissive to their husbands naturally.
To be at peace with yourself, don’t create your own problems.
Be At Peace with Yourself the Christian Way
From the Christian viewpoint, you can be at peace with yourself always because peace is Christ’s. The King James Version of the Holy Bible does not even contain the word “problem.” Instead, it uses “cumbrance,” and the other standard translations used “load,” “weight,” or “burden.” (See Deuteronomy 1:12—use different translations through Biblehub) I say again that Christ is the Owner of man’s true peace. Observe John 14:27:
It means, if you are a born-again Christian, you are always peaceful because it is your Christ who gave you peace in your soul.
Tons of problem came up to me in my younger years—a fire burned down my ten-year business resources; I didn’t have a daughter when my wife was about to pass childbearing age; I faced a health issue in my early 30s, etc. No one of us is free from solvable problems in this domain. But, as a Christian, I always keep to heart the words of Job: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)
Read More: Involve God in Our Everyday Life Through Christ
If your health is failing, for an example, it is not a problem because God gives, and He also takes away what he had given you. Do you want to have serenity with yourself? Well, receive Christ in your heart today, for He said: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
