Don't trade your big problem for another little problem. Find deliverance through it, rather then from it.

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The other day, I-45 from Dallas to Houston was a parking lot of construction traffic. I tried to find a way to get around it and wound up going on the service road that was a dead end. I then had to go back to where I was, travel about 10 miles in the other direction, just so I could get back into the same traffic jam that I was in when the whole thing began.

I believe that the Word is woven into the fabric of the universe, and that everything that is created preaches something of Truth, so I had some time just to see what this was all about, and turn to my spirit and listen.

I learned that sometimes there is trouble that you can't get out of, and to not try to start whole new problems when the big trouble will eventually get me through if I just stick with it.

There is a story of Paul in a storm on the Mediterranean Sea. The sailors abandoned ship and got into a little boat, but Paul insisted on staying and the big ship brought him to the shore while the little boat was crushed by the sea.

This is the story of my last year starting my own business. It has been rough, and at times it seemed hopeless, but I stayed in it, and got through it safely, instead of abandoning it for another project. Now, my big idea that had big risk and big trouble is about to render a big reward, because I stayed in it through the trouble.

Maybe you are in a tough situation right now. Maybe your kids won't behave, or your spouse makes things impossible. If it seems hopeless, remember that you have a Shepherd, and don't go out and get into another little problem. Stick with the problem that you are in, and see if God doesn't deliver you through it. Sometimes deliverance isn't avoiding, or abandoning, but deliverance is right where you are, with a huge reward in the end.

I am not saying that you should stick with every calamity, but if your faith is to hang in there, then I won't talk you out of it. I will commend your faith instead. Some people will completely shipwreck their life, because they got out of a marriage by having an affair, when they should have stuck with the troubled marriage and found deliverance through it, rather then from it.