I'm told the Chinese characters for crisis and opportunity are the same.

My friend, Pastor Joseph Prince of Singapore's 17,000 member New Creation Church, recently confirmed the truth of this statement to me (his wife, Wendy, is Chinese). In other words, our perspective on our problems makes a great deal of difference in whether we emerge from a trial better or bitter. It's not so important what happens to us as much as what occurs in us. Scientists who study these situations tell us an entirely different set of positive chemical reactions occur in our bodies when we view a stressful circumstance as a problem to be solved rather than a predicament to be shunned. We find a thrilling illustration of this phenomenon in a familiar story from Matthew's gospel regarding the storm at sea.