How do you react when something bad happens?  Do you get angry, scream, or cry?  So quick, how would you react if your car broke down in heavy traffic and you were late and all by yourself without your cell phone?  This video is for you if you’re tired of getting angry, scared or overwhelmed and want Christian Solutions for handling bad things that happen in life.

Getting angry, scared or overwhelmed are all very serious reactions.  We are going to flip all of these reactions on their heads with a counterintuitive, right out of the Bible solution that is going to make you dance.  It’s an idea that very few people could imagine.

But before we get to your new solution, let’s make it fun by taking a little quiz to see how you might respond!  In this quiz – you’ll be scored by how fast you respond, and by your answers.  So the key is to give us the very first answer that comes to your mind – just as fast as you can.  Ready?  Here are the questions.  Remember to answer fast!!!

That’s the end of the test!  And as fun as it was, if you said cows drink milk, you’d be surprised to know that cows really drink water!  So the point of this quiz is to get you to think – what is your gut instinct – your very first reaction when things go wrong?

I personally have struggled by reacting with excitement – or even anger for way too much of my life.  

But over the years, I’ve asked Jesus to help me, and am learning, in advance of the circumstances to take a new track – and now we are going to discover what it is, and how it really truly works!  Ready!

The Bible says to “Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). Really!  Now before you close out on this video, first consider how this solution is so counterintuitive to the world’s way of handling problems. . . You know. . . Crying, Worrying, Getting mad, getting even, holding it in, silently suffering, being a martyr, yelling at the kids, or kicking the garbage can.  But who likes any of these solutions?

Instead, the Bible says when I have trials and troubles, I can choose to count it as joy, so I get to grow in perseverance.  In other words, it makes me better!  Perseverance is like the little boy who struggles to add, but with practice, finally learns to do it.  Then he gets the privilege of learning how to subtract.  And once that is mastered, he gets the honor of learning to multiply and divide!  And who doesn’t want these skills for both ourselves and our children. With this positive perspective, the difficulties of learning math skills can be a joy that grows our perseverance!  

Just like math problems, we’ll all have other problems in our lives.  And when we decide in advance to make our gut reaction – our first response – to count our problems as joy, we cannot help but to grow in our perseverance.  

Dear Jesus, please help us so our gut reaction, our first instinct, is to turn to you and your word for strength when things go wrong.  Help us to count our troubles as joy, so we can grow in perseverance and grow closer to you, Oh Lord, our King.