What Is the Most Productive Method to Manage Trouble?

How problems are managed ultimately depends on a person’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as their temperament and personality. Solutions to problems demand a test of intelligence and patience. New information, however, can generate confidence that will be valuable for a lifetime.

Seeking help for difficult problems can build tolerance for others who are different in temperament and personality. As Saul’s troubles built up, his fear intensified after realizing God had withdrawn his spirit and blessing from him. I can only imagine how overwhelming that was.

To help Saul cope, David played the harp for him hoping to soothe his troubled mind. However Saul immediately became fearful of David and perceived him as an enemy. In contrast to this mindset, think how pleasant and comforting it is knowing God is a very present help in times of trouble.

Begin each day with thanksgiving and praise for this wonderful assurance.           

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Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as in fact as you are doing.

~1 Thessalonians 5:11 New international Version

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! 

~Psalm 133:1 New International Version

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What Does Compatibility Assume?

Instinctively, we human beings basically know if the potential for compatibility exists for a relationship. A young man created a business with a friend and assumed that compatibility in ambitions and objectives existed. Soon disputes over management of finances caused their friendship to collapse.

However a relationship is defined, success depends on having mutual values and agreeing on significant issues. Some relationships are so fragile that compatibility has to be carefully nurtured by elevating it above all areas of incompatibility.

Compatibility in marriage assumes that self-centeredness and self-reliance have given way to interdependence and mutuality, based on love and commitment to each other. Genesis 2:24 describes this as becoming one flesh in body, mind, and spirit. For compatibility to flourish and thrive, it must be nurtured and cherished.

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Therefore encourage and comfort one another and build up one another, just as you are doing.

~1 Thessalonians 5:11 Amplified Bible

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Nurturing: Give It and Receive It

All healthy relationships require nurturing, both from other people and from the Lord God. Nurturing that feeds the soul is driven by deep-seated love and affection. Yet nurturing should be multi-dimensional, given that other people’s needs will vary according to each one’s experience and  personality.

                              

We can become too busy or too guarded to give or receive nurturing meant to strengthen our relationships. Failure to give or receive nurturing can leave you weak and vulnerable to temptation that promised, but failed, to satisfy your need for love and acceptance. Nurturing is giving yourself in ways that fulfill another person.

The Apostle Paul asked, "Don't you know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you received from God?”  Your body here is more than its physical form. Your body contains the very essence of your complete being created by Christ Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit to serve and honor the Lord God and others. 

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We know that God not only loves you but has selected you for a special purpose. For we remember how our gospel came to you not as mere words, but as a message with power behind it – the convincing power of the Holy Spirit. You know what sort of men we were when we lived among you. You set yourselves to copy us, and indeed, the Lord himself. You remember how, although accepting the message meant serious trouble, yet you experienced the joy of the Holy Spirit.  

~1 Thessalonians 1:4-6 Phillips – New Testament in Modern English 

So continue encouraging one another and helping one another in character building.

~1 Thessalonians 5:11 Williams – New Testament in the Language of the People

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Communication That Transforms

Personal growth and change can be subtle, almost unnoticeable, taking place over an extended period of time, or it can be swift and dramatic. Some life experiences can be so shocking and earthshaking that life no longer proceeds down its seemingly predictable pathway. God often gives us a new roadmap to follow.

The Apostle Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus was a life-changing event. In that moment he lost his eyesight and his life’s mission, along with his identity. Waiting in darkness, vulnerable and defenseless, his world was turned upside-down. When God restored his vision, he was ready to learn a new way to think and believe.

Although the Apostle Paul would continue to grow and change as God intended, becoming temporarily blind would be a high-water mark for his life. Hatred changed to compassion, while loathing was transformed into a desire for fellowship. God's power and love will create in you a clean heart, transforming how and with whom you communicate.

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It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom.

~Galatians 5:13-14 The Message

 

And so encourage one another and help one another, just as you are now doing.

~1 Thessalonians 5:11 Good News Bible

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Bridge an Impasse with Communication

An impasse reflects a hopeless deadlock bound up in differences of opinion. Striving for control and power where self-esteem or feelings of self-worth appear in jeopardy is what creates an impasse. This does not mean that an issue is a life-or-death situation but that winning has become the issue.

Fran and Jesse have created a crisis of credit card debt. It takes all their extra funds just to pay the minimum on this debt. With absolutely no financial wiggle room, fighting over everything has become a daily occurrence. Jesse refuses to leave the job he loves for one with a higher-paying salary. Fran refuses to cut back on what she considers necessities.

Mistakes and bad judgments reflect immaturity, but where there’s a willingness to acknowledge mistakes and change behaviors, hope for a relationship can be secured. An impasse can be dislodged only as communication builds a bridge to insight and understanding. When God is given freedom to influence your heart and mind, he then will give you understanding and wisdom to do what is good and right. 

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Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin.

~James 4:17 New American Standard Bible

So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this, just keep on doing it.

~1 Thessalonians 5:11 The Message