First, let me tell you the phrase ‘-er problem’ is not original.  I came across it several weeks ago in an online devotional and posted it without the source above my laptop to remind me it affects us all, myself included.  It is like the ’foot disease’ boat owners often contract and ‘the grass is greener over the fence’ experienced by farm animals.  It is the undercurrent of dissatisfaction with our condition in life caused by the desire to have more and newer and bigger and to be admired for being ‘whatever-er’ than other people.
 
Of course, some of my ‘-ers’ are good for me:   I wish I were thinner, healthier, stronger.  Some can spur me to strive to improve myself:  I wish I were more out-going, more compassionate, more knowledgeable.  Even those can cause me to obsess, to experience anxiety when I don’t see progress, or to feel a sense of failure when I back slide.
 
For years I have worn one or two bangles made of ox horn costing about $0.10 USD each purchased at markets in Uganda.  I wear them to remind me of my sisters and brothers around the world who have so much less than I have.  They remind me the ‘-er problem’ related to the material things in my life are blessings to share and enjoy. They remind me becoming more Christ-like is the only ‘-er problem’ to strive to overcome, with help of the Holy Spirit, of course.
 
I looked up a few Bible verses to help me overcome the ‘-er probem’. 

• Ecclesiaster 1:8  Everything is wearisome beyond description.  No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied.  No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
• Luke 3:14  “What should we do?” asked some soldiers.  John replied, “don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.”
• Philippians 4:11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.
• 1 Timothy 6:8  So, if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
• 1 Timothy 6:6  Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.    
• Philippians 4:6  Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.

​As of this past Monday my routine is totally flipped.  Upside down.  Cataract surgery completely reversed my sight capabilities.  Last month I could read most anything including very tiny text without glasses and required strong bifocals to make out things more than 2 feet in front of my face.  Today, I can see past the 2-foot line with clarity and cannot read even relatively large text without ‘cheaters’.  What a change-up.  I walk around with dollar store glasses stuck on my head, ready at a moment’s notice to facilitate reading things from my cell phone to the titles under the microwave buttons.  My world is up-side-down. 
 
Jesus turned the disciples’ world up-side-down 2000 years ago and continues to flip the worlds of everyone who believes in Him and heeds his words.  Here are a few words able to flip my world when I obey rather than follow my very human instincts: (New Living Translation)
 
Matthew 3:9 Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones.
 
Matthew 5:22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell
 
Matthew 5:28 But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
 
Matthew 5:38-39  “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.
 
Matthew 5:44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
 
Matthew 7:4 How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?
 
I challenge you to read the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapters 5 – 7. What challenges you to flip your world and follow? 

​To all my facebook friends and others who read this,
 
I love you all.  I do not care about:
               Your political stance
               Your view on abortion
               Your sexual preference
               Your racial makeup
               Your ethnic background
               Your economic status
               Your physical abilities or non-abilities
               Your mental abilities or non-abilities
               Your religious beliefs or unbelief
               Your favorite team
               Your age…
               Etc…..
I love you because you are You.  I love you even though we disagree.
How boring would the world be if you were just like me?
 
Discuss with me how all the above and more shapes your life and mine. 
Enjoy our sameness and our differences.
 
Proverbs27:17    As iron sharpens iron,
                          so one person sharpens another.