Guess what. . . life is full of problems!  I know that may come as a shock to you but it bears repeating. . .life is FULL of problems!  Everyone who has ever lived has had problems of some sort; health problems, relationship problems, legal problems, financial problems, spiritual problems, etc.  The question is not “will we have trouble in this life,” but “how much trouble will I have TODAY?”  You see the Bible tells us that we will have trouble and that EACH DAY will have trouble:

“I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”  (John 16:33 HCSB)

“Each day has enough trouble  of its own.”  (Matthew 6:33b HCSB)

Now I want you to imagine yourself living in a sweltering desert, dependent on a well for life-sustaining water.  Each morning you go and draw fresh, cool water from the well.  As the day wears on the water becomes warm and begins to lose its effectiveness as a thirst quencher.  Do you drink the warm water or do you return to the well to again draw fresh, cool water?  I don’t know about you but I prefer the cool water!  However, cool water comes at a price–frequent trips to the well.

How does this relate to life’s problems?  Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The faithful love of the LORD never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”  As we face life’s problems we must make frequent trips to the well of God’s mercy.  We must drink from the water of life and plead with Him to grant us the grace we need for today.  Drawing from the well daily is a help for us in both preparing us to face adversity and for comforting us in the midst of it.  Unfortunately, many people only run to God when problems arise and thereby miss many of His blessings.

I know what you’re thinking; “but I don’t have TIME to make frequent trips to the well.”  I think Martin Luther addressed that notion correctly when he said, “I have so much to do today that I should spend the first three hours in prayer.”  So I ask you, “really?  You really don’t have time for God.  You don’t have time for the creator of the universe?  You don’t have time for the one who ‘knit you together in your mother’s womb?'”  He is the creator, we are the creature.  Who are we to tell God how our time should be spent and who are we to say that He is unworthy of our time!

So what do we do?  If you find yourself responding that you don’t have time, first perhaps you should consider who gave you that time in the first place.  Second, repent.  Repent of your selfish heart.  Repent of treating God as though He is the least important thing in your life.  Third, take stock of your priorities.  The writer of Ecclesiastes, after declaring “everything meaningless” closed the book with these words, “When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is: fear God and keep His commands, because this is for all humanity.”  (Ecclesiastes 12:13 HCSB).

Don’t ask why; Don’t think about; Just GO!  Go to the well and enjoy the cool, refreshing water of God’s mercy.

Ron