Why you should rejoice in whatever problems you may be going through...

It seems counterintuitive to say that we should "rejoice" in hard times and with painful problems.  And if viewed from a strictly human perspective, rejoicing would be the least likely outcome.  But there is a reason, even in pain and suffering, to rejoice, to see and acknowledge the presence of good in our lives even when it seems to be missing.
If life was truly mortal and material and if human circumstances were the truth of being, then judging our lives and our sufferings from a mortal basis would be reasonable.  And this certainly is the way most of us view existence.  But the Bible offers a different perspective, a spiritual view of life and reality, that totally changes what we think and see.  According to the Bible, God is Spirit, and we are made in His image and likeness.  The likeness of Spirit cannot be material.  So that which we see as real, that which we universally accept as our substance and life in matter is actually false, unreal.  And if it is unreal, then all the manifestations we see in matter are equally unreal although they surely seem to be real.
So what then do dire and troubling material circumstances really mean to us?  When we have human problems, be they related to health, wealth, or anything else, their only reality is as a spur to prick our mortal sense of existence with a jolt so painful as to awaken within us the need to seek a higher reality.  In times of pain and suffering, the common response is to turn to God for relief.  "There are no atheists in a foxhole."  But when we turn to God, how we do it is vital to our finding relief.
If our prayers are merely human, fearful pleas to an unknown deity somewhere vastly far away and above our situation, then they have only limited benefit.  True prayer, the prayer that does bring us healing and relief, is always declaratory.  Our need in times of trouble is not to look outward from the pain and suffering and beg for intervention, but to silently and confidently declare that we are not in the pain and suffering at all, but held in the arms of divine Love, the one and almighty God.  If we back up this acknowledgement with a certain faith and clear understanding of this holy Truth, then we will experience what Jesus described when he said, "And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free."  Free from the pain, free from the suffering, free from all mortal claims on our being.
So, today, as we think of all the suffering that mankind has gone through, from the 9/11 tragedy to the floods in Pakistan, to the suffering of people from war and poverty and disease around the globe, it's time to change our outlook and our prayerful attempts to find relief.  It's time to know God more as a precious, loving Father-Mother than as an elevated and distant figurehead in the clouds or as another inspired mortal named Jesus who walked the earth over 2,000 years ago.  It's time to understand heaven as a state of mind entirely connected to God, divine Mind, and not as a big city in the clouds with streets of gold.  It's time to begin to see and understand the spiritual reality of all life and being and to know that suffering is simply a call to look deeper into Truth to find whatever it is that the pain and suffering are there to lead us to find.  There are lessons in all suffering.  There are gains to be made whenever we endure the pain and learn more of the Truth by holding steadfastly to God and turning away from matter, mortality, and error.  Jesus is our savior not merely because he suffered on the cross and died for us, but more because he revealed through his life and teachings and resurrection that life is not mortal at all, but spiritual.
Let us begin today to find the spiritual call in all the times we find ourselves suffering or in need.  Let us respond to that call by delving deeper into our understanding of divine Mind, perfect Love, the All-in-all, God and in Christ Jesus who showed us the Father in deed and in truth.  In this way we will not only find relief from suffering and pain, but we will begin to find more and more of heaven in our daily lives.  We are in heaven already, all the time.  We just need to turn away from the mortal, human sense of reality and stay in the spiritual every moment.  Never let mortal, material seeming, as real as it may claim to be, persuade you to believe that God is not right with you giving you safety and peace and joy.
Have a blessed day, and by all means, seek ye the Lord.   CM