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| PROBLEM SOLVING |
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PROBLEM SOLVING PROBLEM SOLVING
God has provided an arsenal of weapons to deal with each and every situation that can be encountered in this life. Whether it be in the moral or spiritual arena, God has supplied us with "everything we need for life (moral living) and worship (spiritual living) through His full knowledge (2 Peter 1:3). The Christian life is designed to be lived in the sphere of inner peace and joy. Even though we live in an earthly environment that is spiritually, socially and physically Antagonistic to the Christian, the functional believer can experience a fantastic tranquility and contentment regardless of the presence or absence of comfort in those three areas. Whenever the believer's comfort zone in these three areas comes under attack, he is encountering what we call, problems. To restate: problems are attacks on our comfort zone and involve temptations to violate God's righteousness or simply not to trust Him; His character, wisdom and plan. Failure to handle these problems successfully results in a variety of sinful attitudes (worry, fear, depression, bitterness, anger, frustration), which in turn lead to all kinds of sinful activities. To be tempted in these areas is not sin, but to let any one of these attitudes govern the soul, will cause a great deal of personal pain and misery, not to mention the negative effects on others. God has provided five specific techniques so that we can recognize and resist the negative, sinful reactions to our problems. Another pastor has coined the term, "problem solving devices," and it works quite well to describe these five techniques for solving our problems. There is a little bit of overlap and inter-connectivity between these five problem solving devices, but they are still quite distinct and separately, invaluable to the believer as he faces the pressures of this antagonistic environment in which we live. The first PSD is HUMILITY. This is the attitude that recognizes our place in the universe from the perspective of God's plan. Humility has two sides: submission and function SUBMISSION The submission of humility involves three attitudes. We first must recognize AND accept the fact that God is the sovereign entity of the universe (He is the boss). His authority is absolute and His plan governs everything that ever has occurred or ever will occur. True humility accepts that God's sovereignty is in control and is willing to comply with whatever his plan dictates. Secondly, humility recognizes that God's viewpoint is the absolute and perfect view of everything that goes on in the universe. How HE perceives things is the only right way to perceive things. Accordingly, we learn and then apply HIS viewpoint to every area of our life - every detail that we encounter in the society in which we live. When problems arise, HUMILITY has already determined that God's viewpoint is going to be the arbitrator and the solver. This helps to cut off at the pass, the pseudo solutions that sneak into our playing field, such as emotion, majority opinion, elder influence, religious influence, political influence or environmental influence. And thirdly, true humility recognizes that God's policy is the only RIGHT way to do things. Many times we are challenged in life about HOW to accomplish a particular task or how to fulfill a particular goal. The world around us dictates its own ideas and promotes solutions that are independent from God and do not recognize either his authority or viewpoint. Humility in our life hits the problem upfront with the established attitude that we are going to do things God's way - no matter what that involves or where it takes us. If we are willing to do it God's way, then we are motivated to learn what God's way is, and are not as likely to accept a compromise that does not honor God's character and plan. THE FUNCTION of humility As we learn God's word, letting His viewpoint saturate our souls, we learn to think no less or greater of ourselves than according to the value God has placed upon us. This is spiritual self-esteem that makes decisions based on the responsibility that God has given to each one of us as members of a holy nation, a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) and as ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). True humility prevents decisions based on inferiority or superiority complexes and instead keeps our focus on "the things above" (Colossians 3:1), and on the celebrity-ship of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:2). The function of humility is based on total submission to God's character and plan as we learn more about it through His word. The function of humility is represented well at 1 Peter 5:5b-6. "And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time." The second PSD is the FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. This refers to the function of God the Spirit in teaching, guiding and influencing the believer in the pathway of righteousness. The Filling of the Spirit revolves around the issue of FELLOWSHIP with God. The believer has fellowship with God when there is no sin in the life. At the moment of salvation, the believer receives a total forgiveness of all past and future sins, and is declared perfectly righteous in the eyes of God. Nothing can alter that STATUS of righteousness that God bestowed upon him. However, subsequent to salvation, whenever the believer commits a mental, verbal or overt sin, fellowship with God is broken, and the filling/control of the Holy Spirit is quenched. We need to be very aware of the presence of sin in our life and confess it to the Father as soon as we realize it is present. If we confess our sins, then God is faithful to forgive them (1 John 1:9) and we will be restored to fellowship with God, and the Holy Spirit will once again be exercising His filling/control. As long as the Holy Spirit is controlling the believer, He is able to lead and influence him in regard to making decisions, but when the believer is not filled with the Spirit; not in fellowship, then The Sin Nature (the flesh) is in control. This is called, walking in the flesh or carnality, and "they who are (walking) in the flesh, cannot please God," (Romans 8:8). When the believer is carnal, he is prone to use human viewpoint and actions to solve problems, and this results in making bad decisions, but when the believer is walking in the Spirit, he will not carry out the desire of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Instead, the Spirit will bring to our remembrance the truths we have learned, and urge us to apply those truths to our problems and resolve them by using God's viewpoint. Accordingly, the divine provision of the filling/control of the Spirit is a key problem solving device when facing the many pressures of this earthly life.
The third PSD is MEDITATION on God's word. This means that we have an attitude of seeking and using God's word to deal with every situation in life. At Psalm 1:2-3, we are told that the righteous one will find great happiness (blessed) as he delights in God's word, for when the heat of pressure is encountered, he will have the stability, the strength, and the nourishment to handle it and make the right decisions. At Psalm 119:9, we are told that a young man will keep his way straight, by keeping it according to God's word. And at verse 11, "your word I have stockpiled in my heart, so that I might not sin against You." By learning the standards of God's word, we equip our souls with the wisdom of His viewpoint, and by keeping our minds active in thinking about these truths, we give the Holy Spirit something to bring to our remembrance and are able more consistently, to make decisions that are pleasing to Him and beneficial to us.
The fourth PSD is FAITH REST. Faith rest is the attitude and practice of being totally relaxed and confident in the character and plan of God based on knowledge and trust in His promises. There are many specific promises to deal with every situation in life, but in general, faith rest is the application of one specific factor of God's plan. That factor is the wonderful truth of Romans 8:28, which says, "And we know that He works all things together for good, to those who love God." Not everything, in and of itself, can be considered "good," but no matter how grievous the situation, no matter how serious the problem, God will work it out for the benefit of the one who loves Him. Accordingly, when we face any pressure situation, we can cast "all your care upon Him because He cares for you," (1 Peter 5:7) and we can claim the promise of Philippians 4:6-7, "Be worrying about nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made know to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all human comprehension, shall guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." We can thus, face any crisis - any problem - and not panic or fall apart, but relax and rest peacefully in God's character and plan.
The fifth PSD is BENEFICENT LOVE. Beneficent love is the set of standards by which the believer deals with the human race. Basically, it continually seeks what is best for other people as determined by the divine value system, that is, what GOD determines to be the most important things in life. A great majority of our problems in this life involve other people. It is imperative that we have an absolute standard of divine love that we can apply to people and accordingly, make the right decisions concerning them. The self-centeredness of the sin nature is a constant aggravation when it comes to handling people problems. We so often let pride get in the way that it is difficult to see what is the right thing to do. The character of love needs to be built in our soul through many years of bible study, and even then, there is no guarantee that we will choose the right way when facing a people problem. The specific nature of beneficent love is described in considerable detail for us at 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Through the 15 virtues of love that are listed there, we can learn about the kind of thoughts and actions that reflect Christ's own character, and use them as a guideline for our life and as a barometer for our progress in spiritual growth. The other problem solving devices all work together to guide us in the right direction, but ultimately, it is going to be the degree that our soul becomes conformed to the 15 virtues of love, that will produce a consistently righteous Christian life and fulfill God's purpose for leaving us here on earth. Return to Bible Fragrances Index | ||
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İRon Wallace, http://www.biblefragrances.com.
Anyone is free to reproduce this material and distribute it, |
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