The new, young preacher watched as the Cadillac rolled into the parking lot of his little church in Nashville, Tennessee.

Out stepped a middle-aged woman: the epitome of success. Her jewelry — worth more than his annual salary — dazzled. Her mink coat was so long it nearly swept the ground. Her expensive clothes and boots attested to her involvement in the country music industry. She walked up to him, having no idea she was the first person he had ever counseled.

“I have all kinds of problems,” she said.

“Financial problems?”

“No.”

“Health?”

“No.”

“What’s your main problem?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you ever thank God for your problems?” the preacher asked.

The woman — singer and songwriter Marijohn Wilkin — left the church and drove home. She sat down at her piano and began to sing a prayer that came into her mind: the entire chorus of “One Day at a Time.”

The resulting song is widely considered the biggest gospel hit of the 1970s. It has won numerous awards and been recorded hundreds of times.

Like Wilkin, we can recognize we have problems even when we seem to have it all.

But when we put our lives and our talents in God’s hands — thanking Him for even the problems He has put in our way — He is ready and willing to use us to bless the rest of His children.