Reframing Your Problems
By Neil Hoffman
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…
– Romans 12:2
Did you know that artists consider the frame that goes around their paintings almost as important as the paintings themselves?
Frames tell us how to look at what’s in front of us. They enhance the desired elements, determine what colors pop out and which ones go unnoticed. They determine what people notice in the picture and they give us physical context – a frame actually shows where art ends and life begins. The right frame is the capstone to a beautiful piece of art. The wrong frame makes it hopelessly bad.
Consider these examples:
This is one of my favorite pieces of art. It’s called “Las Noces de Cana.” In fact, it’s such a great piece of art that it sits across from the Mona Lisa in the Louvre museum in Paris. It’s inspiring, beautiful, and just nice to look at.
Here it is again with some frames I found on the internet:
This one works.
This one, not so much.
Ok, I know what you’re thinking. “You picked a really silly frame. That frame would make any picture look bad!”
And that is exactly my point.
The right frame can add a lot to a picture, but a bad frame doesn’t have a right picture- it makes everything seem bad.
So the question for us is, what frame are we putting around our life?
A bad outlook can rob us of any joy, but the good news is life’s greatest adversities can be solved by reframing our problems.
Reframe
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. – James 1:2-4
When we are in a hard circumstance, our natural frame tells us to look at the pain, the hassle, the bad, but God’s frame reminds us that He is working all things together for good for anyone who loves Him (Romans 8:28). Trials are His tool to give endurance to our faith, to complete us, and to remove our lack. When hard times come, we should count it a joy because it means God is working in us.
“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:11-12
The natural frame makes us feel like hard times are for forever, but God’s frame shows us that pain is temporary and His kingdom is eternal. Even when we are treated unfairly, accused, and cursed by people, we can be glad because we know God sees everything, and He’s going to reward us for faithfulness to Him.
This all sounds great, doesn’t it? Having Teflon skin so that troubles bounce off of us, so that even when we’re sad we have hope and joy. But how is it possible?
How to Reframe
There are two kinds of people, and we get to choose which camp we fall into:
- Complainers
- Worshipers
Complainers can always find something to complain about, and worshipers can always find something to praise God for.
It’s like the famous epigram French writer Alphonse Karr once wrote, loosely translated:
“Some people grumble because God places thorns among the roses. Me, I rejoice because he places roses among the thorns.”
Worship is how we reframe our problems.
It helps us stop focusing on what’s wrong with our circumstances and onto what’s right with Jesus. He loves us when we don’t expect it or deserve it. God is going to get us to go where He needs. We have eternal life with Him. He is here with us, so what else matters?
Nothing is harder than worshiping God when everything feels like it’s going wrong, but one of the purest forms of worship is praising God when you don’t feel like it. Worship is not based on circumstances; it’s based on the character of God.
It changes how we look at things.
Read Acts 16:22-40 for encouragement and to see how Paul and Silas rejoiced even under the worst of circumstances – and what it did to their outlook and their situation. Your situation may not always end materially like theirs did, but your heart and mind will be changed, and that makes all the difference.
Instead of being in such a hurry to get out of adverse situations, sometimes we just need to make sure we get something out of these situations.
Make sure you pick the right frame.
