A Theology Of Problems Series

A woman who wanted her apartment painted while she

was out of town was very fussy. She insisted that the ceiling

be painted the exact shade of her ash tray. The painters

after trying to mix this exact shade unsuccessfully finally hit

upon a solution to their problem. They painted the ash tray

with the same shade they used to paint the ceiling. When the

woman returned she was delighted with the perfect match

they had made.

Problems sometimes can be solved so easily, to the liking

of everyone involved, but unfortunately, paint does not cover

them all. Dr. Paul Tournier, the famous Christian psychiatrist,

says people come to him all the time for help in

solving their problems, and he discovers they are caught in

unsolvable vicious circles. They need faith to experience

God's grace, but they need God's grace to find faith. They

need forgiveness in order to love, but they need love in order

to forgive and be forgiven. Self-confidence is needed in

order to succeed, but success is need to give them

self-confidence. The list can go on and on to the point that it

leaves problem solvers wishing they had chosen math rather

than people, for all math problems do have answers, but

how do you solve the problems of people?

Sometimes it seems like you can't win. Like the little boy

who came home from school and told his mother he was in a

fine fix. The teachers says I have to learn to write more

legibly, and if I do she will find out that I can't spell. Even

kids feel the vicious circle. The reason advice columns are

so popular is because everybody is looking for solutions to

their problems. Marriage, family, sex, relationships of all

kinds, the world cries out, "Help me with my problems!"

And an array of experts are striving everyday to find

answers to that cry. The most thought word in the English

language, if not the most uttered, is help!

If you give a little thought to the professions of life, you

discover they almost all revolve around problems. If there

we no medical or physical problems, the doctors, nurses, and

hospitals, with all of the surgeons and specialists would have

no reason for their existence. They exist to solve problems.

If there were no legal problems, the lawyers and judges would

be out of a job. If there were no problems with crime

and fire, policemen and firemen could all be laid off. If

there were no problems with the mental and emotional

stress of life, the psychologist, psychiatrist, and counselors

could all close shop. If cars, trucks, and planes, never

developed a problem, the mechanics would all be useless. If

ignorance was not a problem, teachers and universities

could call it quits. We could go on and on making it clear

that just about everything that life is about is some form of

problem solving.

The entire Bible is a problem solving book. It tells us that

God has a major problem.

How can He save fallen man who has disobeyed His will?

The whole revelation of God is dealing with this problem.

Jesus came to be the great problem solver. He healed people

of their physical, mental, moral, and even social problems.

He then died on the cross to solve, once and for all, the

problem of sin, and make it possible for all sin to be

forgiven. He then rose from the dead to solve the greatest

problem in man's mind, how can I live forever? The Gospel

is God at His best in problem solving, but even that does not

end it all. Problems are what the rest of the New Testament

is all about. The problem of weak Christians, baby

Christians, backsliding Christians, rebellious Christians,

and unsanctified Christians.

We could go on and on listing the problems the New

Testament deals with, but the specifics are not our focus at

this point. This survey is to help us get the over all picture

of the Bible and life so we can see the book of Ruth in its full

context. Ruth is a book about real life, the real life of real

men and women. The result is, it is a book which is problem

oriented from the very first verse. It is one continuous battle

to find sense in a world that so often seems senseless. The

first problem of the book is:

1. A FEDERAL PROBLEM. The government of Israel in

those troubled times was very poor. Every man did what

was right in his own eyes. The judges were spectacular, but

no one person can make a good government, and so people

were at the mercy of circumstances, and had little control

over their lives.

2. A FAMINE PROBLEM. Nature became a foe rather