If you want to be blessed, first be a blessing to others. That was a sermon I heard the other day. Too often, we become ensnared in our own little world. We become entangled in our problems. We're always looking inwardly and we're always getting stalled on some issue that then hovers like a crisis. 

Yet the more we dwell on the problem -- the more we pity ourselves -- the more entrenched those problems become. When we get depressed, it's often because we are thinking only of our own dilemmas, and this is unfortunate because God wants us to keep our eyes not on ourselves but on the needs of others. 

Look at Jesus. His entire life was spent blessing others, and despite His great suffering on the Cross, He was looking out for other people: the thief who was crucified next to Him; His mother; and every one of us.

We're called to do the same. We're meant to give. God wants us to be the vessels of His mercy -- His mighty goodness -- and that means lifting up others. 

Try spending your time thinking of the problems others face and you'll be shocked at how quickly your own troubles seem to diminish.

Help others and God will solve your problems. When you feel down and depressed, take your eyes off your own situation and set them on those around you. 

Notice the needs of those God has set in your path. Pray about ways of solving someone else's problems. Pray to be a source of constant encouragement.

There is good in every darkness, and there are countless ways we're given the chance to help. How do we do this? We lift others up. We compliment them. We let them know we love them. As a prominent preacher recently said, it's not enough to simply feel love. We have to show it. We have to express it. Love is not love until we give it away -- and we should be giving it away at every opportunity.

So the answer to your problems: help someone else and God will help you. Come to the aid of another, and God will come to your aid. Instead of your problems, instead of what you need, focus on being a blessing. 

Focus on fulfilling what someone else needs.

This is the most powerful way of drawing down God's grace, and you'll be astonished at the result! God has created all of us to serve each other. He wants us to be blessings. And when we begin looking at life that way -- when we become unselfish and see the opportunity to do good in every circumstance in life -- the Lord blesses us without our even asking for it.

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