Dwight Fletcher | Don’t let small problems get bigger

How many times have you said, “It’s nothing. I’ll manage.”?
A headache that keeps returning. Constant fatigue. Stress that never seems to leave. Anxiety you explain away as part of the job. A pain you’ve learned to work around. Many of us become experts at coping with things we were never meant to carry indefinitely.
We often convince ourselves that, if a problem isn’t life-threatening, it isn’t worth praying about. We reserve our “big” prayers for what feels like the biggest crises. But that is not how God wants us to operate. 
Throughout Jesus’ ministry on Earth, people brought Him every kind of need. Some had life-altering conditions. Others struggled with issues that might have seemed small to someone else. Yet Jesus never suggested that a person’s suffering had to reach a certain level before it deserved His attention.
Instead, God’s heart has always been full of compassion and a desire to heal us of all our affliction. Look at what David writes in Psalm 103:2-3 (NIV), “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” The psalm reminds us that God’s care for His people is both personal and complete. He is concerned with every part of our lives.
But we are sometimes our own greatest enemy, because, instead of bringing the problem to the light and persisting in prayer for healing, we adapt to the struggle and co-exist. 
Think about how often we normalise unhealthy patterns. We accept poor sleep because work is demanding. We dismiss rising blood pressure because everyone our age seems to have it. We carry emotional wounds for years because we’ve learned to function despite them. We tell ourselves, “This is just how life is.”
And, what God wants to heal, we never carry to Him. The only problem is that small problems always seem to grow bigger over time. Before long, the headache that used to show up once a week is now here every day. The little bout of anxiety is now a full-fledged panic attack. Maybe that brace for your joints has become a regular part of your day-to-day living. 
The Bible never encourages denial or dismissal of your suffering. God invites us to bring Him every pain, every fear, every symptom.
And part of trusting Him can look like using the wisdom and help He’s provided through doctors, medication, treatment. Praying for healing isn’t an alternative to wise healthcare; it’s what we do alongside it, because He cares for us completely.
In 1 Peter 5:7 (NKJV), the Apostle Peter encouraged believers to be “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you”. Notice the word “all”. God does not ask us to decide which burdens are important enough for Him. He simply invites us to bring them.
What if the very thing you’ve learned to tolerate is something God wants you to bring to Him?
That does not mean every prayer is answered in the way, or timing, we expect. But it does mean we should never assume that God is uninterested, simply because we’ve become accustomed to our struggle.
Instead of waiting until a small issue becomes a major crisis, begin talking to God about it today. Invite trusted believers to pray with you. Take practical steps toward health. And continue believing that God is compassionate toward every area of your life.
During this week, ask yourself: What burden, symptom or struggle have I been calling “small” that God may be inviting me to place in His hands?
Next week, we’ll explore how to keep trusting God when healing doesn’t come as quickly as we’ve hoped.