What's The Problem

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.  You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.  (James 1:22-25 NLT)

For many years a professor started his first class in the semester by putting two figures on the blackboard, the number 4, with a 2 under the 4 and a line under the 2.

4

2

“What’s the solution?” he would ask.  A student would say “Six.”  Another would say “Two,” but the teacher would ignore them.  Finally several would call out “Eight,” and he would shake his head.  The professor would then point out, “All of you failed to ask the key question.  What is the problem?  Unless you know what the problem is, you cannot possibly find the answer.”  Without a plus sign, a minus sign, a multiplication or division sign, the numbers cannot be computed.

Our life is exactly the same.  We need to spend time defining our problems and taking stock of our situation.  We need to know what our problems really are and then we will be able to find the solutions.  We need to listen to God and to trusted mentors and sponsors to begin to learn what makes life work.  We need to read God’s word to find God’s principles for healthy living.  We need to sort our lives, both within us and around us based on what we learn.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.  (Psalm 139:23-24 NLT)

God is more than willing to supply us with information that is lacking so we can find satisfying solutions to our everyday problems.  If we will seek God’s will and follow it, God has plans and strategies that work in every situation we may encounter.

©2015 Partners in Hope